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Ring’s cheapest subscription plan is going up by $10 a year
Amazon's Ring is raising the price of its cheapest Basic subscription, following similar bumps by Google and others.
Bowing to pressure, Unity announces the terms of its surrender
Unity posted updated terms to its new developer fees as the company walks back the most panned elements of the policy.
Unity apologizes and promises to change its controversial game install fee policy
Last week, Unity dropped a bomb on developers with a new runtime fee, and now the company appears to be backtracking.
Unity will start charging developers each time their game is installed
Unity announced a new fee structure today, and developers are none too happy. “We are introducing a Unity Runtime Fee that is based upon each time a qualifying game is downloaded by an end user,” the company wrote in a blog post announcing the change.
DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub sue NYC over restaurant fee limits
The city made the pandemic measures permanent last month.
Apple won’t collect fees on paid Facebook events until 2021
Apple won't charge its 30 percent commission on paid Facebook events through December 31st.
Major news organizations join the fight against Apple’s App Store fees
News sites have joined Epic and Spotify in fighting Apple’s high App Store commissions (via the WSJ). A group representing the New York Times, WSJ and other major publishers wants Apple to reduce the 30 percent cut it currently takes on first year subscriptions. “The terms of Apple’s unique marketplace greatly impact the ability to continue to invest in high-quality, trusted news and entertainment particularly in competition with other larger firms,” said Jason Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next (DCN).
Uber Eats waives delivery fees for over 100,000 independent restaurants
In response to the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the restaurant industry, Uber Eats is waiving delivery fees for over 100,000 independent restaurants across the US and Canada. It's the latest move by gig-economy businesses like Uber, Lyft and Grubhub to help alleviate some of the financial challenges that the coronavirus outbreak presents.
Grubhub waives fees for independent restaurants impacted by COVID-19
As people around the country begin "social distancing" to limit the spread of COVID-19, restaurants are already seeing a downturn in business. In partnership with mayors from Boston, Chicago, New York City and San Francisco, Grubhub is stepping up to help its small restaurant clients.
CERN turns to open source software as Microsoft increases its fees
For the last 20 years, CERN -- home of the Large Hadron Collider -- has been using Microsoft products under a discounted "academic institution" rate. But in March, at the end of its previous contract, Microsoft revoked CERN's academic status. According to a CERN blog post, under the new contract, licensing costs have increased more than tenfold. In response, CERN is pulling back the curtain on a now year-old project to migrate to open source software, and it's calling it the Microsoft Alternatives project, or MAlt.
Sinemia brings back debit cards following complaints over fees
As MoviePass began to flounder amid mounting money woes, changing its model every few weeks and introducing new restrictions like surge pricing and limits on what films customers could see on any given day, rival Sinemia began to turn some heads. It offered a number of different plans, as opposed to MoviePass' one, and while it cost a little bit more, the company claimed its model supported stability, something that MoviePass customers no longer had. It even began to offer an unlimited plan just after MoviePass disbanded its own. But over the past few months Sinemia customers have begun to complain about the service's fees, discontent that even led to a lawsuit. Now, Sinemia is making some changes that will give users the option of purchasing tickets without fees.
Nokia will make €3 for every 5G smartphone sold
Licensing-related patent wars are pretty run-of-the-mill occurrences for tech companies -- there's always a report of some spat or another in the news. But now Nokia, and a bunch of other giants, are taking steps to avoid future battles by publicly disclosing the licensing fees involved in its 5G technology.
Anchor's donation option lets podcast fans support their favorite shows
Anchor, the audio broadcast-turned-podcasting platform, has launched a new Listener Support feature that lets podcasters collect money from their fans for their efforts. Creators of any size or experience level can add a Listener Support button to their public Anchor profile, which followers can click to make a regular monthly donation of $0.99, $4.99 or $9.99. Adding the button also puts a link in the podcast notes on every app or website where it's available, so listeners can support their favorite shows from anywhere.
FCC officially changes rules for formal complaints
The FCC has voted to change its rules around formal complaints from the public. Now, complainants will have to pay a $225 fee to bring their issue to the commission via the official process. Informal complaints, however, are still free.
New York approves surcharge for Uber and Lyft rides in Manhattan
As part of the budget that New York lawmakers passed last Friday, ride-hailing services and taxis face a new fee if they drive in Manhattan. These aren't nickel-and-dime increases, either: Uber, Lyft and the like face a $2.75 charge for each ride, taxis get a $2.50 increase and group ride services like Via and uberPOOL will be charged $0.75 per customer. It's meant to combat congestion and help fund subway repair and improvements, providing an expected $400 million per year going forward for the MTA.
Uber will pay New York drivers $3 million in class-action settlement
It's hard to keep track of all of the lawsuits Uber's juggling these days, but there's about to be one less. The company has settled a suit brought against it by 2,421 New York drivers who claimed Uber paid them less than was contractually obligated and falsely advertised how much drivers could make by working for the company. Uber will pay $3 million as per the settlement agreement while the drivers will agree to being classified as independent contractors -- a stipulation of two other settlements Uber has made with drivers in the past.
Patreon is shifting processing fees from creators to supporters
On December 18th, Patreon will be changing how it handles service fees. Currently, Patreon takes five percent of whatever creators make on the site but because of various processing fees that also apply, creators actually lose seven to 15 percent of their earnings. So now, Patreon says it wants to streamline those fees and on the 18th it will charge patrons a new service fee of 2.9 percent plus 35 cents per pledge. That means creators will now only see a flat five percent taken from their pledges. However, while the funding platform is presenting this change as a benefit for creators, many are concerned that these new charges will cause a good portion of their patrons to stop pledging.
Greece wants to force Uber into hiring full-time taxi drivers
Greece, a country with a lot of debt and an angry taxi lobby, is the latest to ponder anti-ride-sharing legislation. The country reportedly plans to force ride-sharing firms like Uber and Taxibeat to ink three-year contracts with licensed drivers, effectively turning them into full-time employees. Operators would need to buy taxi licenses be subject to stricter rules than currently allowed, according to Reuters.
Apple says Spotify wants 'preferential treatment' for iOS app
It didn't take long for Apple to respond to Spotify's claim that it's using App Store approvals a way to handle competitors. In a letter obtained by BuzzFeed, Apple general counsel Bruce Sewell described the allegation as "troubling" and that Spotify was "asking for exemptions to the rules we apply to all developers." Sewell went on to say that the streaming service was "publicly resorting to rumors and half-truths about our service" with its statements about App Store policies being designed to squash competition.
Spotify: Apple is holding up app approval to squash competition
How do you catch up with the biggest music streaming service? Well, not approving app updates is one tactic, and Spotify says Apple is doing just that. The streaming service sent a letter to Apple's legal counsel this week claiming that the company is rejecting an update to Spotify's iOS app and it's "causing grave harm" to users by doing so. The letter explains that Apple won't approve the new version because Spotify doesn't use the company's billing method for in-app purchases and subscription services. Apple announced the changes to app subscriptions in iTunes just before this month's WWDC.
