蘋果大規模下架中國應用引發不滿情緒加劇

Anger is growing in China over Apple’s treatment of developers, with a second group of app designers filing a legal complaint against the iPhone maker.

蘋果(Apple)對待開發者的方式正日益在中國引起怒火，第二批應用開發者也舉報了這家iPhone製造商。

“Apple used to have a good reputation,” said Chen Wen, a dating-app developer based in Chengdu, western China. “But their recent behaviour, such as unequal treatment of Chinese developers, has left many unsatisfied.”

“過去蘋果聲譽很好，”中國西部城市成都的交友應用開發人員陳文（音譯）說，“但他們最近的行爲，比如對中國開發者的不公正待遇，讓很多人不滿。”

Apple started a worldwide crackdown on what it saw as illegitimate apps earlier this year, removing more than 1m Chinese apps from the company’s App Store in the year to date, according to the tech research firm ASO 100.

技術研究公司ASO 100的數據顯示，今年早些時候，蘋果開始在全球範圍打擊其認爲不合法的應用，今年迄今爲止，蘋果已從其應用商店(App Store)下架逾100萬個中國應用。

Apple routinely launches mass clean-ups of its App Store, and it is not unusual for the group to delete tens of thousands of programs at one time. However, it has cut almost 200,000 more Chinese apps than those from the US so far this year.

蘋果會定期對應用商店進行大規模清理，一舉下架數萬應用並不少見。然而，今年迄今爲止，其下架的中國應用要比下架的美國應用多出近20萬個。

Apple declined to comment on the specific volume of its app deletions in China. ASO 100 says its data are compiled in partnership with Apple.

蘋果拒絕就其在中國下架應用的具體數目置評。ASO 100表示其數據是與蘋果合作編制的。

Last month, a Beijing-based law firm, Dare & Sure, filed the first Chinese antitrust case against Apple on behalf of 28 developers. Their case has now expanded to cover more than 50 developers. Now a second law firm in Chengdu, western China is alleging similar mistreatment on behalf of 23 more developers.

上月，北京達曉律師事務所(Dare & Sure)代表28家應用程序開發商對蘋果發起了反壟斷舉報，這在國內尚屬首次。目前，參與舉報的開發商已經擴大到逾50家。現在，成都的另一家律師事務所代表另外23家開發商發起類似舉報，指控蘋果的不公正待遇。

“Our common goal in initiating this collective action is to fight for fair business relationships for China’s developers,” wrote Sichuan Fa Ye Law Firm in a regulatory complaint filed last week to China’s commercial and economic regulators.

上週，四川法也律師事務所在提交國家工商總局的行政投訴中寫道，發起的相關集體行動旨在共同爲中國開發者爭取公平交易條件。

Apple referred back to the company’s comment on the original complaint: “The App Store has published guidelines that apply equally to all developers in every country where we operate, and we comply with local laws and regulations,” Apple said, adding that it worked hard to ensure its developers were successful.

蘋果公司再一次擺出其在最初遭舉報時的迴應：“在每一個App Store參與運營的國家或地區，App Store發佈的指南對所有開發者一視同仁，並且我們遵守當地的法律法規。”蘋果還補充道，蘋果竭力幫助開發者在 應用商店獲得成功。

China is the most important market for Apple’s App Store in terms of revenue, according to market research firm IDC.

市場研究公司IDC表示，以收入計，中國是蘋果應用商店最重要的市場。

Both Beijing-based Dare & Sure and Chengdu-based Sichuan Fa Ye Law Firm alleged Apple was abusing its control of the iOS App Store, the only official source of app downloads for iPhones, by removing apps without good reason. Developers in China said they often did not receive warning before the deletions happened, and could not get a helpful response from the company explaining the decision.

北京達曉律師事務所和四川法也律師事務所都指控蘋果濫用其對iPhone應用下載唯一官方渠道iOS 應用商店的控制權，在沒有充分理由的情況下將應用下架。中國應用程序開發商表示，在他們的應用被下架之前他們往往沒有收到任何警告，也無法從蘋果那裏獲得解釋下架決定的有用迴應。

“When companies that are important to Apple allege that certain apps infringe their rights and should be taken down, Apple will do so with very little evidence or even no evidence,” wrote law firm Dare & Sure.

北京達曉律師事務所表示，當對蘋果很重要的公司聲稱某些應用侵犯了它們的權利，應該被下架，即使證據很少甚至沒有證據，蘋果也會下架這些應用。

“Some Apple developers have a monopoly on power and can do whatever they like, they can get any app taken down if they want to,” said Gu Cheng, a freelance developer.

“一些開發蘋果應用的開發商有壟斷性的權力，它們可以爲所欲爲，只要它們願意，它們可以讓任何應用下架，”自由開發者顧誠（音譯）說。

Many developers said apps that may seem like copies of others would often be for different audiences or regions, and that they did not understand how Apple decided which apps were the originals.

許多開發者表示，很多看起來像是模仿其他應用的應用有可能是爲不同受衆或者不同地區開發的，他們不明白蘋果是如何判斷哪些應用是原版的。