Apple says competition changes could open door to scams
Australians could lose more money to fraudsters, miss out on cutting-edge tech features, and fail to see lower prices under changes proposed to boost competition on digital platforms.
US tech giant Apple issued the warnings on Friday, urging the government not to "follow a handful of untested laws" from other countries in its submission to a Digital Competition Regime consultation.
But experts say consumers could benefit from greater competition, with the pushback coming as Apple fights regulatory changes in Europe and the US that could force it to allow third-party payments without taking commissions.
Changes were proposed to rules governing digital platforms following the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's Digital Platforms inquiry, with consultation on regulations closing in February.
Australian businesses and consumers needed greater rights on digital platforms and up-front rules to govern their conduct, the consultation paper said, as a concentration of power could lead to "higher prices, reduced choice and lower innovation".
Apple rejected these outcomes in its submission and, in a separate statement, insisted the company's ecosystem helped developers and security features protected consumers from fraud and scams.
"We are concerned the proposed digital competition regime will chill this innovation and threaten user security," the company said in a statement.
"We welcome the opportunity to continue engaging with the government on behalf of our Australian customers."
In its submission, Apple objected to changes that would allow users to "side-load" third-party apps onto their devices, force the company to accept third-party payments without commissions, and demand interoperability with other platforms.
Australian regulators should create their laws rather than use other countries' rules as a template, the submission said.
"Apple believes the ultimate framework should be tailored to the needs of Australian consumers and businesses, rather than follow a handful of untested laws in other jurisdictions that could pose significant unintended and negative consequences if implemented in Australia," the submission said.
The European Union's Digital Markets Act had delayed the launch of AI features on Apple devices, the company said, and forced it to permit pornographic and torrenting apps on its platform.
Both the European Commission and US courts are demanding Apple change its policies and accept third-party in-app payments without commissions following the act and a court case launched by Fortnite creator Epic Games.
Changing laws to bring more competition to platforms would benefit Australian consumers, Telsyte managing director Foad Fadaghi said, although he warned many users were unlikely to change their iPhone settings or install unapproved software.
"The European experience has shown that most people keep the default settings even as the platform does open up," he said.
"Apple users tend to value the security and privacy of the platform."
Changes proposed in the Digital Competition Regime included preventing tech companies from prioritising their products, removing payment restrictions, and mandating timely app approval processes.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
5 hours ago
- News.com.au
30-year-old Lucy Guo usurps Taylor Swift as youngest self-made female billionaire
Taylor Swift has been dethroned as the world's youngest self-made female billionaire, according to Forbes — by a 30-year-old, hard-partying college dropout who has reaped a windfall from the artificial intelligence boom. Lucy Guo — a self-professed workaholic who rides an electric skateboard to work when she's not being chauffeured by an assistant — has a net worth of $1.3 billion, according to Forbes' list of America's Richest Self-Made Women released Wednesday. Guo took Swift's title of world's youngest self-made woman billionaire in April, when it was reported that Scale AI — the firm she co-founded with Alexandr Wang in 2016 when she was just 21 and he was 19 — had been valued at $25 billion in a deal set to close by June 1. The tender offer has not been finalised yet, but it is expected to close at that valuation in a few weeks, a source familiar with the matter told The Post. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Guo was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she quickly picked up coding in middle school. She dropped out of Carnegie Mellon University as she clinched a $100,000 entrepreneurial scholarship bankrolled by billionaire investor Peter Thiel. She took a job in 2015 at Quora, where she met Wang, and later worked at Snapchat for a brief period as the company's first female designer. At Scale AI, Guo ran the operations and production design teams — until Wang, who took the chief executive position, reportedly fired her after the two sparred over how the company should be run. 'We had a difference of opinion but I am proud of what Scale AI has accomplished,' Guo told the tech news site the Information last year. Still, Guo kept most of her 5 per cent stake in Scale AI, which is worth approximately $1.2 billion, according to Forbes. The firm labels data used by tech giants like OpenAI and Alphabet to train their chatbots. With 'a swanky apartment in Miami' and a house in Los Angeles, Guo has admitted she never buys groceries or cooks, instead ordering all her meals from Uber Eats. She says she works at least eight hours a day when on vacation and has boasted about taking two Barry's bootcamp fitness classes a day. She frequently attends techno raves. 'A lot of people don't like me because, honestly, I seem like an a – hole online. I would not like me on the internet,' she told The Post in 2022. 'But I've made a lot of friends because I think people appreciate my savage personality.' The Post previously reported on her massive collection of Pokemon paraphernalia — including slippers, stuffed animals, artwork and a Swarovski crystal necklace. She now runs Passes, a content creation platform that has been dubbed the family-friendly version of OnlyFans, and Patreon, claiming to 'make millionaires' by allowing creators to hold onto 90 per cent of their earnings. Passes reaped $40 million last year in a Series A funding round, according to Fortune — allowing Guo to fund her lavish party-girl lifestyle. But now Passes and Guo are facing allegations, in a class-action suit filed in February, that the platform allowed child pornography. The bombshell suit accuses Alec Celestin, the plaintiff's agent, and Lani Ginoza, the site's director of talent, of knowingly allowing sexually explicit content featuring OnlyFans model Alice Rosenblum — who was underage at the time — to circulate on Passes. Ginoza was not employed by Passes at the time of the alleged events, according to Passes and the site's legal representation. 'Guo personally intervened to override Passes' strict internal safety controls tailored for creators of social media content aged between 15 and 17 years old to strip and deprive Plaintiff of any protections offered by Passes against the exploitation of a minor,' the complaint alleged. Just before the suit was filed, Passes banned all underage creators and wiped the site of their content, according to Forbes. Lawyers for Guo filed a motion in April to dismiss the suit, which they slammed as a defamatory attempt to 'pursue the 'deep pockets' of Passes, a successful start-up, and its wealthy founder.' 'This lawsuit is part of an orchestrated attempt to defame Passes and Ms. Guo, and these claims have no basis in reality,' Rollo Baker of Elsberg Baker & Maruri told The Post. 'Ms. Guo and Passes categorically reject the baseless allegations made against them in the lawsuit, which was only filed against them after they rejected a $15 million payment demand.' In between founding Scale AI and Passes, Guo started a small investment firm known as Backend Capital. Guo landed at No. 26 on Forbes' list of America's Richest Self-Made Women, while Swift came in at spot 21. Swift still holds the title of world's richest female musician with a net worth of $1.6 billion, after her blowout-success international Eras Tour pushed her into billionaire status in October 2023. Diane Hendricks took the top spot, with a $22.3 billion net worth thanks to her company ABC Supply, one of the largest distributors of roofing, siding and windows in the country.
Sky News AU
9 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Australia should not ‘relinquish' biosecurity standards for US
Nationals Leader David Littleproud claims Australia does not 'fear competition' amid the trade talks on beef with US President Donald Trump. 'We don't fear the fact of us competing with the US beef that's already coming into Australian markets,' Mr Littleproud told Sky News Australia. 'What we do fear is a drop in biosecurity standards that would pose a biosecurity risk that could damage our herd, cost Australian farmers billions. 'We have the best biosecurity in the world … we shouldn't relinquish that to anybody.'
The Advertiser
9 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Australian detained in Iraq released after four years
An Australian man detained in an Iraqi prison for nearly four years has been released on bail. Engineer Robert Pether was granted conditional release after being detained on misrepresentation and fraud charges. Mr Pether was arrested following a dispute with the Iraqi government and his employer, a consulting firm working on headquarters for the country's central bank. He was sentenced in 2021 to five years in prison and fined millions of dollars. A United Nations report on arbitrary detention detailed allegations that Mr Pether was subject to extreme cold, humiliation, threats of death and forms of psychological abuse, including being shown a torture room. Foreign Minister Penny Wong welcomed Mr Pether's release. "I know the personal toll Mr Pether's detention has taken on him and his family and hope this news brings a measure of relief after years of distress," she said in a statement. "While Mr Pether remains subject to legal proceedings in Iraq, this is a positive development and follows persistent Australian government advocacy over many years. "His case has been raised with Iraqi authorities over 200 times, including at the highest level by the prime minister and myself." Mr Pether wrote a letter in 2024 expressing concern for his health. Senator Wong said officials would continue to press the case for the Australian in Iraq. "We will continue to support Mr Pether and his family and to advocate for Mr Pether's interests and wellbeing," she said. "I want to thank Australian officials for their tireless work on Mr Pether's case, including Australia's special envoy who travelled to Iraq in recent weeks to negotiate for this outcome." An Australian man detained in an Iraqi prison for nearly four years has been released on bail. Engineer Robert Pether was granted conditional release after being detained on misrepresentation and fraud charges. Mr Pether was arrested following a dispute with the Iraqi government and his employer, a consulting firm working on headquarters for the country's central bank. He was sentenced in 2021 to five years in prison and fined millions of dollars. A United Nations report on arbitrary detention detailed allegations that Mr Pether was subject to extreme cold, humiliation, threats of death and forms of psychological abuse, including being shown a torture room. Foreign Minister Penny Wong welcomed Mr Pether's release. "I know the personal toll Mr Pether's detention has taken on him and his family and hope this news brings a measure of relief after years of distress," she said in a statement. "While Mr Pether remains subject to legal proceedings in Iraq, this is a positive development and follows persistent Australian government advocacy over many years. "His case has been raised with Iraqi authorities over 200 times, including at the highest level by the prime minister and myself." Mr Pether wrote a letter in 2024 expressing concern for his health. Senator Wong said officials would continue to press the case for the Australian in Iraq. "We will continue to support Mr Pether and his family and to advocate for Mr Pether's interests and wellbeing," she said. "I want to thank Australian officials for their tireless work on Mr Pether's case, including Australia's special envoy who travelled to Iraq in recent weeks to negotiate for this outcome." An Australian man detained in an Iraqi prison for nearly four years has been released on bail. Engineer Robert Pether was granted conditional release after being detained on misrepresentation and fraud charges. Mr Pether was arrested following a dispute with the Iraqi government and his employer, a consulting firm working on headquarters for the country's central bank. He was sentenced in 2021 to five years in prison and fined millions of dollars. A United Nations report on arbitrary detention detailed allegations that Mr Pether was subject to extreme cold, humiliation, threats of death and forms of psychological abuse, including being shown a torture room. Foreign Minister Penny Wong welcomed Mr Pether's release. "I know the personal toll Mr Pether's detention has taken on him and his family and hope this news brings a measure of relief after years of distress," she said in a statement. "While Mr Pether remains subject to legal proceedings in Iraq, this is a positive development and follows persistent Australian government advocacy over many years. "His case has been raised with Iraqi authorities over 200 times, including at the highest level by the prime minister and myself." Mr Pether wrote a letter in 2024 expressing concern for his health. Senator Wong said officials would continue to press the case for the Australian in Iraq. "We will continue to support Mr Pether and his family and to advocate for Mr Pether's interests and wellbeing," she said. "I want to thank Australian officials for their tireless work on Mr Pether's case, including Australia's special envoy who travelled to Iraq in recent weeks to negotiate for this outcome." An Australian man detained in an Iraqi prison for nearly four years has been released on bail. Engineer Robert Pether was granted conditional release after being detained on misrepresentation and fraud charges. Mr Pether was arrested following a dispute with the Iraqi government and his employer, a consulting firm working on headquarters for the country's central bank. He was sentenced in 2021 to five years in prison and fined millions of dollars. A United Nations report on arbitrary detention detailed allegations that Mr Pether was subject to extreme cold, humiliation, threats of death and forms of psychological abuse, including being shown a torture room. Foreign Minister Penny Wong welcomed Mr Pether's release. "I know the personal toll Mr Pether's detention has taken on him and his family and hope this news brings a measure of relief after years of distress," she said in a statement. "While Mr Pether remains subject to legal proceedings in Iraq, this is a positive development and follows persistent Australian government advocacy over many years. "His case has been raised with Iraqi authorities over 200 times, including at the highest level by the prime minister and myself." Mr Pether wrote a letter in 2024 expressing concern for his health. Senator Wong said officials would continue to press the case for the Australian in Iraq. "We will continue to support Mr Pether and his family and to advocate for Mr Pether's interests and wellbeing," she said. "I want to thank Australian officials for their tireless work on Mr Pether's case, including Australia's special envoy who travelled to Iraq in recent weeks to negotiate for this outcome."
