iBooks will be the only bookstore. Let’s make them pay.
Phil Schiller — Senior VP Worldwide Product Marketing, Apple, Apple Official App Store Guidelines Press Briefing
“Our 30% fee is fair compensation for the incredible platform, security, and curation we offer. We treat every developer equally without playing favorites.”
Steve Jobs to Phil Schiller & Eddy Cue — executive email exchange, Internal email thread unsealed in Epic v. Apple
“Jobs: I think this is all pretty simple: iBooks is going to be the only bookstore on iOS devices. We should tell Amazon: you either use our in-app payment and pay us 30%, or you can not be in the App Store. Let’s make them pay.”
The Split:Apple told developers and Congress that its 30% cut was a neutral curation fee applied equally for platform safety. In private, Jobs stated the exact anti-competitive goal: making iBooks the exclusive bookstore and forcing Amazon to hand over 30% or face eviction.
When platform rules cite user security and equal treatment, check whether the rule was designed specifically to kneecap a competing digital service.