Ok – now that I can see as being a problem. If you go to the sony book store on the web, they actually launch the sony reader app on your computer to allow you to make a purchase. So its quick possible that they were re-directing back to the app from the web in order to complete the transaction which would be a big no-no.

However, the big part of this is the move to forcing in-app purchase. Apple needs to find a better way to handle this than the current rules. Hopefully as @jhrogersii mentioned Apple will work behind the scenes like they did in the early days to make the rules work a bit better.

The issue (as stated in said article) boils down to Sony lagging behind it’s contemporaries in the ebook market by not providing a web interface for purchases. Like other major publishers they would want to avoid using Apple’s in-app purchasing system to avoid the costs therein (30% of the purchase price goes to apple, iirc), by incorporating their own in-app purchase system for which there are no provisions in Apple’s rule book.

The options before Sony are to build a web interface for ebook purchases for it’s customers or to accept that 30% of each purchase will go to Apple. This is the same environment that everyone else has been forced to work in. Nothing new here.

Ofcourse, once again, this brings the debate of the “walled garden” to the fore. At the end of the day, Apple is within it’s legal right to take a raking of the profits from products sold on their devices. Something Nintendo (and Sony hypocritically) had, and possibly still is, doing with their game consoles. Funny how that doesn’t spark up a debate.

At some point months later, Apple started allowing developers to sell their content or allow users to download previously purchased content. At this point, I was able to consolidate all of my Bible translations and reference materials into one app. I would assume that this rule is what allowed app’s like Kindle and Nook to get into the App Store, as well. The key to remember is that this was before Apple made their in-app purchase system available.

Now we have Apple suddenly changing course and pulling the rug out from under everyone today. Well, I have a feeling that, rather than kick these popular and high profile apps out of the store, Apple is going to change their backend proceedures to allow them to stay in the store. Why do I think this? If you read those over those rules, they sound like they are related more to typical apps, such as games selling extra levels, or navigation apps selling premium services. That makes sense when you consider that Apple already had booksellers covered under their previous allowances.

To me, today’s actions seem like Apple trying to consolidate their App Store proceedures, while making sure they get their cut of sales that are generated in their store. I just think they have handled the PR end of ts very poorly. I have a feeling that you will not see Kindle or Nook kicked out of the store, but simply updated to allow purchases through the App Store with some amended backend accounting procedures from Apple.

If I’m wrong, then Apple is going to get killed over this. I won’t leave iOS, because eBooks mean little to me, other than my Bible apps. Their libraries are so small that I am pretty sure they will simply adjust to Apple’s new policy. However, it would be a disturbing development that I think would really hurt consumers’ view of Apple down the road. But, like I said, I seriously doubt Apple will tread through this minefield. It just doesn’t make good business sense.