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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityTechnologyApple ‘like The Godfather’ with new App Store rulesPublished8 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage caption, Colton Adamski is hoping to launch one of the first alternative app marketplaces on iPhonesBy Joe TidyCyber correspondentThis week Apple made the long-awaited landmark move to allow other companies to launch app stores on iPhones.The tech giant was forced to act by EU politicians concerned about it having a market monopoly.The decision is being watched closely around the world and was initially celebrated as an industry victory for businesses and consumers in the EU.But Apple’s strict new rules and fees are being heavily criticised, with Spotify calling them “extortion”.It is one of many companies, including Fortnite maker Epic Games, that has been pushing Apple to allow alternative app stores on iPhones.’Grey business’The EU lawmakers hoped their rule change would encourage smaller challengers to enter the lucrative iPhone market.”Apple says it’s opening up, but it still has a tight fist around iPhones”, says Colton Adamski, a former hacker and businessman who lives near Chicago and is trying to launch one of the first alternative app shops in the EU. The 22-year-old has been running an unofficial iPhone app store for more than six years. It is, in his words, a “grey business” operating on the fringes of what is legal. For everywhere other than the EU, starting an app store is against Apple’s terms, and installing apps outside the official App Store is prohibited.The process, known as side-loading, is common practice on Android phones, but Apple has forbidden it since launching the iPhone, arguing it is a security risk. Apps need to be verified through the official App Store, the tech giant has long said.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Apple’s App Store has been the only accepted way to get apps on to iPhones until nowApple charges an average 30% commission to apps using its store, which it says is for the protection of consumers. Although the fee is controversial, it is true that generally Apple is more successful at keeping malicious apps out than other marketplaces like Google’s Play Store.Colton’s app shop has attracted hundreds of thousands of downloads of unofficial apps and games. The BBC tried his service and was able to download apps to an iPhone through a simple workaround that changes the phone settings to override security warnings. He has made a decent living operating his under-the-radar app shop, but has long wished to make one legitimately. So when the EU’s new laws were announced in January, he jumped at the chance.”It was so exciting we finally had the opportunity to go from a ‘grey’ store operating in the margins of what’s allowed to finally launching a legit store,” he says. Fortnite to come back to iPhones in EU Pornhub challenges EU over online content rulesApple is now the biggest smartphone seller globally and has the most affluent user base, so getting his store on to iPhones would be a major win. Colton’s excitement diminished though when he and his team started reading Apple’s terms and conditions.He compares Apple’s rules to a gangster from The Godfather or Sopranos. Yes, you can open your shop on their turf, but you have to do exactly as they say or they will shut you down. Apple insists that new app shops have €1m (£851,000) in the bank, but if their reserves dip below that figure, they can be closed down. Apple did not respond to our questions about why this is needed, but has previously said it is about weeding out dodgy, or scam, stores. In the last few weeks, since Colton secured his line of credit, Apple has said that app developers of “good standing” for at least two years can also build an app shop without the €1m.Colton’s next hurdle to overcome is how to make a profit. Apple automatically bills new app stores half a euro for every download after one million. Apple says this Core Technology Fee is about keeping iPhones safe through security updates. But Colton feels this is like a so-called protection fee paid to a mob under the guise of making sure a shop owner’s business is safe. So if someone downloads his app shop app but never uses it, he still has to pay Apple 50 cents. Image caption, Colton is determined to launch a challenger app marketplace in spite of the hurdlesApple is also applying the 50 cent fee to individual apps that receive more than a million downloads, which is worrying some popular app makers. The company has created a website where app developers can estimate how much money they would owe Apple if they choose to list their apps on other stores. It could total thousands if the million download figure is passed, but If they sold exclusively through Apple’s App Store it would cost nothing. Another charge being criticised is the 17% fee Apple will charge on any sales of an app sold on its App Store and elsewhere. Apple argues that 99% of apps it currently hosts are small enough that they can reduce or maintain their current fees. “Ultimately, we want developers to have the flexibility to choose the business terms that make the most sense for them,” a spokeswoman said.But, according to Colton, just like The Godfather, Apple is making companies an offer they cannot refuse to keep them listing only on the App Store. “Many app developers I know are angry and upset. How on earth can they explain this Core Technology Fee? We don’t see Android pulling that nonsense,” Colton says.Android phones, running Google software, have historically been more open, allowing other app shops to exist like Samsung Galaxy Store and Huawei AppGallery.Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Apple and Google account for more than 95% app store market share outside China according to information platform BusinessOfAppsBut Google’s own app shop – Google Play – is by far the most dominant player and, like Apple’s App Store, charges apps on average 30% of their profits or subscriptions as commission. EU lawmakers who created the Digital Markets Act have not yet given an opinion on Apple’s alternative app store rules, and say they will assess them once they are seen in practice. For now, Colton says he is determined to make his app store work. “It’s proving to be really tough but me and my team are working hard because this is literally the future of iPhones,” he said. Related TopicsAppsMobile phonesAppleEuropean UnionMore on this storyiPhone China sales slide as Huawei soars – reportPublished4 days agoTop StoriesFirst official picture of Kate since surgery releasedPublished1 minute agoUS military ship heading to Gaza to build portPublished5 hours agoIDF completes road across Gaza, satellite images showPublished8 hours agoFeaturesThe Papers: Gove’s extremism warning and Johnson in trip to VenezuelaGaza war fuels Jerusalem fears as Ramadan to beginIs Europe doing enough to help Ukraine?Your pictures on the theme of ‘speed’The people keeping the historic foot ferry afloatHow China’s boarding schools are silencing Tibet’s languageMan behind viral fake currency shocked by its successApple ‘like Godfather’ with new App Store rulesWhat a $1 deal says about America’s office marketElsewhere on the BBCHair-pulling, punching and kickingFootage from the moment a brawl erupts in the Maldives ParliamentAttributioniPlayerExploring the mysterious deaths of Nazi fugitivesThree brothers investigate whether a family connection may explain the truthAttributioniPlayerFrom triumph to tragedy…After more than 30 years of service, America’s space shuttle took to the skies for the last timeAttributioniPlayerCan they take on an elite boarding school?Five black inner-city teens must leave their old worlds behind…AttributioniPlayerMost Read1Doctor reveals how ‘brutal’ therapy tackled Rhod Gilbert’s cancer2Johnson flew to Venezuela for unofficial talks3King gives Scotland’s top honour to Prince Edward4Gove’s extremism warning and Johnson in trip to Venezuela5What a $1 deal says about America’s office market6IDF completes road across Gaza, satellite images show7Attack victims hit out at extremism in open letter8Earl Spencer reveals abuse at boarding school9Moscow student jailed for pro-Ukraine wi-fi name10Designer Donatella Versace rescued from lift
[ad_1] Apple insists that new app shops have €1m (£851,000) in the bank, but if their reserves dip below that figure, they can be closed down. Apple did not respond…
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaOneFour: How drill music trailblazers have divided AustraliaPublished17 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Tristan Stefan EdouardImage caption, OneFour members (L-R) Spenny, Celly and J Emz on the set of their new music videoBy Hannah RitchieBBC News, Sydney”We’re not a gang. We’re a music group,” J Emz says, unflinchingly.”We’re a business.” The OneFour frontman is speaking in a small, hard-to-find recording studio wedged behind a refrigerator supply store in industrial outer Sydney.It’s here that Australia’s most successful hip-hop act is finalising their new single.The question I’ve asked J Emz – does OneFour have gang links? – has long stalked the group.To fans, the rappers are pioneers: five Sāmoan-Australians from one of Sydney’s poorest postcodes who have used their explosive sound to give voice to millions of marginalised young people. But to police, OneFour is a threat to community safety, to be managed and contained. For years, they have blocked the group from performing at home by arguing their music incites violence – triggering a complex debate about art and censorship.Violent or visionary? OneFour is made up of J Emz (Jerome Misa), 25; his brother Pio “YP” Misa, 22; Spencer “Spenny” Magalogo, 25; Salec “Lekks” Su’a, 27; and Dahcell “Celly” Ramos, 28.They are the undisputed faces of Australian drill music – a subversive style of hip-hop that tells unfiltered stories of crime, poverty and social dislocation by people who have lived it. Their songs have accrued more than 150 million streams and focus on their experiences growing up in Mount Druitt, a Sydney suburb which has long been the subject of stories about struggle and unemployment, not art.But it’s a melting pot of diverse communities, littered with family-run businesses, busy churches and mosques.Image source, NetflixImage caption, J Emz (centre) says OneFour tells authentic stories of western Sydney”A lot of people were embarrassed to say they were from Mounty growing up. I never was though, I wore it on my sleeve,” J Emz tells me.”It’s home, it’s family. Everything I do in life refers to where I’m from.” OneFour formed in 2014. Their name is a nod to that year and – police allege – the notorious Mount Druitt street gang NF14, which has been in an ongoing war with 21 District, a rival gang from the nearby suburb of Parramatta.But it was a local Mormon church choir that first brought them together as kids, J Emz explains.And it shows up in their music – which often juxtaposes heavy rap verses with soothing gospel-like vocals. Their breakout moment came in 2019 with The Message, a high-octane track that went viral within days, earning the group praise from rap titans including Dave and A$AP Ferg.In the track’s video, dozens of young Pasifika men rally around OneFour at Mount Druitt’s courthouse. Smoke billows as lyrics like “retaliation is a must, ain’t no maybes, ifs or buts” slap in time to the beat.But one now-infamous line also caught the attention of police: “21 what, but one got knocked, ha! I guess that makes them 20.”Police said it referenced the recent murder of a 21 District member and argued that OneFour’s lyrics were inciting violence.Image source, NetflixImage caption, OneFour’s songs have been streamed over 100 million times on SpotifyThe group was soon being monitored by two elite police units – Strike Force Raptor, created to hunt underground criminal networks, and Strike Force Imbara, which investigates gang feuds. “I’m going to use everything in my power to make your life miserable, until you stop doing what you’re doing,” Sergeant Nathan Trueman from Raptor told the ABC in 2019, in a recorded voice memo addressed to the rappers. A years-long campaign to block OneFour from performing has followed, leading to the cancellation of a national tour, repeated raids on the artists’ homes, and pressure on streaming services to shun their tracks. “Just as police do not tolerate public acts of violence, they also won’t tolerate any behaviour – including music – that clearly incites and provokes retribution and other violent behaviour,” NSW Police said in a statement to the BBC.OneFour maintain their lyrics “spread awareness of what life is like in western Sydney” and that social commentary is not a crime.”We make music about our life experiences and what we’ve had to go through,” J Emz says. “It’s [frustrating] that people that don’t even know you or want to understand your story, want to shut you down.” But a series of violent incidents involving several of the group’s members have complicated the picture and increased police scrutiny. All except Spenny have criminal records for drug, robbery, or assault charges. In 2019 Lekks, Celly and YP were jailed for a pub brawl in which YP wielded a chair leg and Celly hit a man with a hammer – an incident allegedly triggered by a racist slur. Image source, Tristan Stefan EdouardImage caption, J Emz and Spenny were the only members not in prison when OneFour launched their EPThe three were ultimately given maximum sentences of between four and eight years. It’s not something the group shies away from though, instead using songs like Welcome to Prison to explore the cycle of violence and incarceration that has plagued their community. “I was taught from young that I’d get caught up in the system didn’t listen, and that’s how I got done,” YP raps in one verse. J Emz is convinced that music is their only path to a different life. “It’s a type of therapy… after releasing certain songs, there’s a burden, a weight off our shoulders.”And criminologists say the argument that the group’s music incites violence doesn’t stack up.”The idea that we can draw this correlation that people are more likely to offend because of these lyrics is a bit ludicrous – it’s simply not played out in the statistics,” says Professor Murray Lee from the University of Sydney. “The way police are approaching OneFour is completely counterproductive because it feeds into the narrative of them being outlaws. And it’s that authenticity that sells their music.” ‘This ain’t Home and Away’Some of hip-hop’s most iconic artists have butted heads with police. NWA’s run-ins with US law enforcement in the 1980s inspired their critically acclaimed album, Straight Outta Compton, but it also led to a cease-and-desist order from the FBI.More recently, the UK’s Metropolitan Police has blamed London’s drill scene for fuelling gang crime, and requested the removal of hundreds of music videos from social media.But in Australia – where rap artists have often failed to find success – there has “never been a campaign targeting musicians like this”, says culture journalist Osman Faruqi. “It’s a similar situation to what NWA experienced. The key difference being that the US grappled with these questions about music and censorship 40 years ago, and has largely arrived on the side of artists.”Faruqi argues that OneFour’s struggle cuts to the core of a bigger debate about who is permitted to tell stories in Australia “and make a living out of it”.It’s even become the subject of a Netflix documentary about the group, called Against All Odds, after their EP.Director Gabriel Gasparinatos says OneFour’s raw talent first drew him in, but it was police efforts to “shut them down” and the competing narratives about what the group represented that kept his camera rolling.Image source, Tristan Stefan EdouardImage caption, J Emz says the group is keen for new artistic challenges”Australia loves to celebrate an underdog or a criminal – Ned Kelly is a national icon, our unofficial anthem Waltzing Matilda is about a sheep thief. So, it was kind of fascinating that the public didn’t get behind OneFour in the same way,” he explains.”There’s an element of it motivated by race, part of it is class. There’s also a stigma around a place like Mount Druitt – maybe people wanted to avoid promoting that version of this country, but it’s a far more accurate depiction of Australia today than the surfy, sun-kissed lifestyle we market.”It’s a conversation OneFour is also having through tracks like This Ain’t Home and Away – which contrasts the idyllic beach-loving lifestyle of Australia’s most popular soap with the neglected corners of Mount Druitt.Faruqi adds: “There would be people now in parts of south London, or Chicago who know more about Mount Druitt than they do about Bondi Beach, and that is a fascinating by-product of the success of Onefour.” The next chapter On the set of OneFour’s new song – Freedom of Speech – J Emz, Spenny and Celly are the only members present. YP is still serving his prison sentence and Lekks has recently been deported to New Zealand. The mood is polite yet focused, as the three quietly rehearse their verses. Extras arrive dressed in police uniforms, for a scene involving the burning of a mock-up cop car.Their manager Ricky Simandjuntak is nearby, as are creatives from Mount Druitt running everything from the cameras to the choreography.”We’re not competing with other Australian artists, we’re competing with Drake, BTS, Blackpink – that’s the standard we’ve got to work to,” Simandjuntak tells me.Image source, Tristan Stefan EdouardImage caption, Celly, J Emz and Spenny are fronting OneFour’s new music videoHis gaze returns to Celly, whose voice has long appeared on OneFour’s tracks in the form of prison phone calls. Now Celly is learning to adjust to his newfound fame while also trying to integrate back into society.”People see gangs as reckless groups who come together to commit crime,” Simandjuntak continues. “Often these are kids who are getting picked on or hurt who band together to protect one another. That mentality served them when they were younger, but now they’re learning a different way.”But there are reminders that not everything is in their control. A few weeks after I visit OneFour on set, headlines are made when Sydney police arrest two men who had allegedly accepted a contract to murder all the group’s members except Lekks. Police said an “organised crime network” that had “conflict” with the rappers could be behind the plot, which had been foiled. They did not elaborate further and OneFour declined the BBC’s request to comment on the matter. On the day of the arrests the group posted a cryptic video on Instagram set to 50 Cent’s track Many Men (Wish Death), before later removing it. But for now, OneFour’s next step is to support rapper The Kid LAROI on his Australia tour next month.It will be a chance to test the limits of their relationship with police, which the group says is slowly improving.With the group’s sound having given life to a thriving drill ecosystem across Australia, J Emz says OneFour is now ready to evolve and extend themselves artistically. “Everyone’s seen and heard our drill music. We’re capable of more than that,” he says. “We’re artists. We’re musicians. And I feel like the world will know that soon.”Related TopicsDrill musicAustraliaMore on this storyAustralia police foil alleged plot to kill rappersPublished11 JanuaryDrill music ‘increasingly used in court cases’Published13 January 2021Instagram ‘wrong’ to take down drill music videoPublished22 November 2022Top StoriesUN in aid plea after staff accused of Israel attackPublished2 hours agoLive. ‘It just wasn’t working’: Badenoch on Post Office chairman’s departurePost Office chairman asked to step downPublished50 minutes agoFeaturesWho invented butter chicken? Creamy dish centre of court battleWhen Louis Vuitton tries to make you change your brand nameAuschwitz film was ‘like Big Brother’ in house next to campKuenssberg: What do voters think of party leaders? 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