Reuters reports on a company called Yudu that will supposedly allow magazine publishers to evade the 30% commission on iPhone and iPad media, by allowing publishers to sell issues direct from their websites that can then be downloaded directly onto the device.
Yudu claims that Apple has approved its service as complying with app store terms and conditions. I find myself a little skeptical, however. First off, I don’t think Apple is going to go through all the hoopla of imposing a “thou shalt sell through in-app purchase” rule not to enforce it. Second, Apple has not proven itself shy in the past about inventing new terms and conditions on the spur of the moment, or selectively enforcing the ones it does have in unexpected ways.
Unless I’m completely misjudging what it is Yudu does, I wouldn’t expect it to last longer than it takes Apple to notice it—for example, by seeing an article in Reuters about a company that claims it can let publishers avoid the 30% commission.
(Found via Gizmodo.)
