These micro-examples are a reminder that corruption is a part of every human system, no matter how perfect the design.

There will always be concertgoers cutting the unwatched fence to sneak in for free.

The only plausible solution is elective transparency. Either your company and financial metadata are available for independent third party review, and records retained as defined, or else you’re not a company.

Don’t ascribe to it, get boycotted.

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This is the best summary I could come up with:

Google fought to keep the Spotify numbers private during its antitrust fight with Epic, saying they could damage negotiations with other app developers who might want more generous rates.

And in court, Google has focused on benefits like greater flexibility rather than cost savings.

As part of the deal, both parties also agreed to commit $50 million apiece to a “success fund.”

“A small number of developers that invest more directly in Android and Play may have different service fees as part of a broader partnership that includes substantial financial investments and product integrations across different form factors,” says spokesperson Dan Jackson.

In mid-2023, it completely dropped support for Apple’s App Store billing system to avoid paying up to a 30 percent commission, and it was one of the highest-profile early members of the Coalition for App Fairness, a group that included Epic and supported the Fortnite publisher’s antitrust suit against Apple and Google.

But while Epic has continued its legal battle against both parties, Spotify apparently found an easier — and far cheaper — way out of the Google fight.

The original article contains 465 words, the summary contains 181 words. Saved 61%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

Disgusting. So glad I don’t use either.

For the suddenly curious: https://qz.com/1732014/why-is-it-called-antitrust