> Why Europe has not woken up to this, which is the only real hope in the short run for substantial fines, is beyond me.
Thing is, regulations do exist but as long as Apple and Google are not forced to comply at least partially in these regulations, nothing will ever change.
Take the GDPR as an example:
- Europe says: "Your app must comply with the GDPR if you want to be in the European market."
- Apple says to app developers: "It's up to you to comply with local laws."
Obviously, Europe can only go after companies, which have a presence in the EU, such as the big tech ones.
Now how would anyone ever enforce regulation such as the GDPR for app devs from China, Indonesia, Brazil, South Africa, ...? There's simply no way. There is no one responsible for that. There is no customs office checking goods (apps) imported to the EU. And the same is true for casino apps.
So, the solution might be to force Apple/Google to comply with all local laws for all apps in the stores. Sounds like a lot of work, but that's the only way. After all, if you buy in-app-items, Apple/Google are the sellers, not the app developers. If you think about it, it's odd that Apple and Google get away with this, because they effectively "sell" these apps to end customers.
I think the logical conclussion is to force app store providers to do the enforcement. After all, the app store providers are monopolists in their environments. I guess, one day, if Apple, Google and company (all those crapware stores from e.g. Samsung) don't enforce it themselves, an EU regulation will come.
You cannot just take payments from citizens of the USA or Europe into some unregulated country, forever. Sure, some fly under the radar, but most gambling-like games (including puzzle games) belong to some conglomerate.
See online casinos. They exist since the 90s, before apps. In the USA apparently you can only run a casino in Las Vegas or some places with a soecific license. Yet the online casinos still exist, but operate from jurisdictions that are off limits from the FBI or whatever (something like Cayman Islands or whatever). However the owners are identified and will be detained when entering US soil.
The internet is not some loophole to break the law. If you are taking a relevant amount of money, even in small payments, they can get back to you or at least block you.
What would the counterpart be if a product was found not to be complying with hardware regulations, such as an electronics device that was found to be a fire risk? Who gets penalised/fined, the seller, the importer, the company who made it or all three? I don't know, but if it's the importer or seller then Apple/Google should absolutely be made to regulate this in some way seeing as though they are taking on that role in the pipeline.
Thing is, regulations do exist but as long as Apple and Google are not forced to comply at least partially in these regulations, nothing will ever change.
Take the GDPR as an example:
- Europe says: "Your app must comply with the GDPR if you want to be in the European market."
- Apple says to app developers: "It's up to you to comply with local laws."
Obviously, Europe can only go after companies, which have a presence in the EU, such as the big tech ones.
Now how would anyone ever enforce regulation such as the GDPR for app devs from China, Indonesia, Brazil, South Africa, ...? There's simply no way. There is no one responsible for that. There is no customs office checking goods (apps) imported to the EU. And the same is true for casino apps.
So, the solution might be to force Apple/Google to comply with all local laws for all apps in the stores. Sounds like a lot of work, but that's the only way. After all, if you buy in-app-items, Apple/Google are the sellers, not the app developers. If you think about it, it's odd that Apple and Google get away with this, because they effectively "sell" these apps to end customers.