Mobile app stores need a unique classification as a consumer product in the wake of a row between Google and the Taipei City Government regarding an adequate refund period, a researcher of the Taipei-based Market Intelligence and Consulting Institute said yesterday.
On Monday, the Taipei City Government slapped Google with an NT$1 million (US$34,400) fine after the search giant declined to introduce a seven-day free trial mechanism for its Android Market mobile phone app store.
In response to the move, Google said in a statement that its Android Market currently provides a 15-minute refund window for all paid apps, which reflects the fact that apps are delivered over-the-air instantly and most users who request a refund do so within minutes of their purchase.
“There is a lack of a suitable classification for mobile apps in Taiwan,” institute researcher Chris Hung (洪春暉) said at a company forum. “So far it is a ‘gray area’ that nobody is sure about which rule should be applied.”
Hung said apps might actually need a shorter trial period because some, such as electronic books and music downloading programs, need a way to prevent people from seeking refunds after they have had enough time to go through all the content. Having a trial period that is too long could weaken the intellectual property rights of app developers.
According to the city government’s chief consumer ombudsman, a decision on whether to fine Google a second time will be made after discussions tomorrow with representatives from the company’s US headquarters.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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