Apple 'like Godfather' with new App Store rules

"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. 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. 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. So if someone downloads his app shop app but never uses it, he still has to pay Apple 50 cents. Another charge being criticised is the 17% fee Apple will charge on any sales of an app sold on its App Store and elsewhere.

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