Last week we reported that Apple would soon begin allowing 7-day trials (by providing a refund if requested within that period) in the Taiwan App Store due to Apple’s compliance with a Taiwanese consumer protection mandate. Today, that change has been officially implemented.
Apple has now amended the terms and conditions of Taiwan’s iTunes Store. The changes, which were brought to light last Friday, are now live, and only apply to App Store customers living in Taiwan.
Apple made the change after being requested to do so (in compliance with law) by the Taipei city government in June. The revised terms and conditions are as follows:
“You may cancel your purchase within seven (7) days from the date of delivery and iTunes will reimburse you for the amount paid, provided you inform iTunes that you have deleted all copies of the product. Upon cancellation you will no longer be licensed to use the product. This right cannot be waived.”
Taipei’s city government reportedly believes that this is the correct decision for Apple to make in this matter, and now plans to work with Apple to provide Chinese-language translations for English-only App Store apps.
Sure, this is great news – but what about the rest of us, Apple? Even Google’s Android Market offers a 15-minute buyer’s remorse period. The fact that Apple only made this change in Taiwan after the local government told them to is disappointing – Why doesn’t Apple make this change global? Why isn’t there a US consumer protection mandate that grants that same privilege?
