Earlier today, Proton filed court papers in the US District Court for the Northern District of California to join an existing class-action lawsuit against Apple. Proton is a plaintiff in the case, but we are representing and suing on behalf of a class of similarly situated developers. Challenging one of the most powerful corporations in the history of capitalism is not a decision we make lightly, but Proton has long championed online freedom, privacy, and security, and we believe this action is necessary to ensure the internet of the future lives up to its potential.

Proton joins suit against Apple for predatory practices that harm developers and consumers | Proton

Apple's anti-competitive App Store policies are gouging consumers, enabling censorship, and harming privacy-focused developers. We're joining a lawsuit to restore internet freedom.

Proton (proton.me)

Earlier today, Proton filed court papers in the US District Court for the Northern District of California to join an existing class-action lawsuit against Apple. Proton is a plaintiff in the case, but we are representing and suing on behalf of a class of similarly situated developers. Challenging one of the most powerful corporations in the history of capitalism is not a decision we make lightly, but Proton has long championed online freedom, privacy, and security, and we believe this action is necessary to ensure the internet of the future lives up to its potential.

Proton joins suit against Apple for predatory practices that harm developers and consumers | Proton

Apple's anti-competitive App Store policies are gouging consumers, enabling censorship, and harming privacy-focused developers. We're joining a lawsuit to restore internet freedom.

Proton (proton.me)

Earlier today, Proton filed court papers in the US District Court for the Northern District of California to join an existing class-action lawsuit against Apple. Proton is a plaintiff in the case, but we are representing and suing on behalf of a class of similarly situated developers. Challenging one of the most powerful corporations in the history of capitalism is not a decision we make lightly, but Proton has long championed online freedom, privacy, and security, and we believe this action is necessary to ensure the internet of the future lives up to its potential.

Proton joins suit against Apple for predatory practices that harm developers and consumers | Proton

Apple's anti-competitive App Store policies are gouging consumers, enabling censorship, and harming privacy-focused developers. We're joining a lawsuit to restore internet freedom.

Proton (proton.me)

Earlier today, Proton filed court papers in the US District Court for the Northern District of California to join an existing class-action lawsuit against Apple. Proton is a plaintiff in the case, but we are representing and suing on behalf of a class of similarly situated developers. Challenging one of the most powerful corporations in the history of capitalism is not a decision we make lightly, but Proton has long championed online freedom, privacy, and security, and we believe this action is necessary to ensure the internet of the future lives up to its potential.

Proton joins suit against Apple for predatory practices that harm developers and consumers | Proton

Apple's anti-competitive App Store policies are gouging consumers, enabling censorship, and harming privacy-focused developers. We're joining a lawsuit to restore internet freedom.

Proton (proton.me)

It's insane that it's taken this long for these companies to stand up to Apple. But better late than never, I guess. Here are my notes:

Proton will donate any money we receive from the lawsuit to organizations fighting for democracy and human rights so that some portion of Apple’s profits made from countries with authoritarian regimes are redirected to freedom. These donations will be coordinated through the nonprofit Proton Foundation, which oversees Proton and ensures that our work always prioritizes the public good over financial gain.

That's cool but, are they donating to the Proton Foundation or From the Proton foundation?

Apple’s App Store policies disproportionately favor the surveillance capitalism business model employed by companies like Meta and Google...Companies that monetize user data in exchange for “free” services that abuse your privacy aren’t affected by this, as they don’t process payments through the App Store

Ehhh I dunno that I buy that one. Charge them 30% and they'll have no option but to pony up. They're not just going to close up shop. Also how would you even enforce such a charge? Just charge them 30% of all of their income?

There have been numerous incidents where Apple has removed or censored apps at the behest of authoritarian governments, in order to continue profiting from those markets.

Yeah, don't go throwing stones in glass houses there, Proton. It's not like you don't comply with authoritarian governments.

Not supporting Apple’s payment system is also considered a violation, which can lead to threats to remove your app, as happened to Proton.

Wow, now that I did not realize.

Proton cannot even link to FAQ or customer support pages from its apps, as Apple believes it’s possible that users will then navigate from the support page to a pricing page and upgrade their accounts without paying Apple its fee.

I didn't realize this either. It couldn't be more clear by this rule alone that these policies have absolutely nothing to do with "protecting consumers" and everything to do with being 100% sure they get their cut for the privilege of being used on Apple devices.

Apple claims this fee is necessary to pay for the maintenance of the App Store, but evidence presented in the Epic Games v. Apple case indicated that Apple makes a 78% profit on App Store fees

After looking into this claim, it seems to be provided by an "expert witness" hired by Epic, and his personal calculations based on files that aren't publicly available. Apple says “Epic’s experts calculations of the operating margins for the App Store are simply wrong and we look forward to refuting them in court.”. So while I would be unsurprised if they're accurate, I don't necessarily believe Epic either.

Proton cannot even link to FAQ or customer support pages from its apps, as Apple believes it’s possible that users will then navigate from the support page to a pricing page and upgrade their accounts without paying Apple its fee.

I didn't realize this either.

Yeah, this also is why Apple has been so sluggish on PWAs (and why they won't allow third party browsers). There is literally nothing that can be done in an app that can't be done quicker and easier as a PWA these days. But how is Apple going to make any money if you can publish your own app and take your own payments? They would then become a hardware vendor and that would absolutely ruin them as a company.

Apple will throw everything they've got at this to attempt to maintain the status quo.

Also Andy Yen :

(x.com)

I know it's quite irrelevant but I'm still very very cautious about proton since this comment. If at the head of the proton foundation you have a Trumpist it doesn't bod well for the future.

CEO of proton think Trump of all things is what we need to combat the big tech. Trump, elected with a bunch of his big tech billionaires.

Also Andy Yen :

(x.com)

I know it's quite irrelevant but I'm still very very cautious about proton since this comment. If at the head of the proton foundation you have a Trumpist it doesn't bod well for the future.

CEO of proton think Trump of all things is what we need to combat the big tech. Trump, elected with a bunch of his big tech billionaires.

There is literally nothing that can be done in an app that can't be done quicker and easier as a PWA these days

Hard disagree. I am on Android so I'm not sure if that makes a difference.

They would then become a hardware vendor and that would absolutely ruin them

I hope that's a joke. Airpods could be a Fortune 500 company all on their own.

I've seen people dismiss this as purely praise for Slater (about whom I know nothing), but it's very hard not to read these statements from the tweet:

Great pick by @realDonaldTrump.

He likes that Gail Slater was given a prominent role. Fair enough – the ping of Trump's account seems pandering, but it's not exactly a million-dollar donation to his inauguration.

10 years ago, Republicans were the party of big business and Dems stood for the little guys, but today the tables have completely turned.

Implies Republicans look to promote small businesses against tech monopolies. Demonstrably not the case.

People forget that the current antitrust actions against Big Tech were started under the first Trump admin.

Suggests the Trump Admin are the bastions against Silicon Valley giants. Completely laughable.