| It doesn't matter if you're dealing with a store run by Apple or Google (or presumably anyone else): the stories are all the same. Presumably because to make the economics work, review and approval are done by poorly trained contractors who don't have time to do a proper job and need to meet quotas. And with anything security related, there's an inherent bias toward not giving information on the exact violations because this can be used to get around the "spirit" of the law while sticking to its "letter" (very true for spam, questionable for app stores). Serious question: is there any better model though? In the non-virtual world, similar standards for the public good are achieved through things like FDA regulations, health inspections, building codes and permits, etc. Since it doesn't seem like there's any kind of elegant free-market or crowd-sourced solution here, what should the standards be for regulating apps and extensions? What kind of "due process" ought there be, or appeal, or whatever? Is there going to come a point when app stores get regulated by a democratically legislated government agency? |
Neither Apple nor Google are governments. When laws and constitutions were crafted, those framers did not comprehend a future where private companies had effective control (and even monopoly) on what might amount to critical infrastructure, and if not critical, then infrastructure nonetheless.