Apple putting the thumb screws on developers?

One of the things we liked about the Android Market over the App Store was the 24 hour refund policy. This allows you to get your money back - no questions asked - within a day of purchasing Android software.

Although it might seem open to abuse, it does encourage developers to make sure their software is ready, and of sufficient quality, on the day of release (unlike, for instance, Watchmen: Justice is Coming).

Now Apple has apparently put a mandatory contract update in front of its software developers, which forces them to accept a 90 day refund policy. On top of this, the new contract allegedly states that the developer must cough up Apple’s 30 per cent royalties on any refunds.

So, the developer sells its software through the App Store, gets 70 per cent of the money, then has to pay back 100 per cent upon refund? A system like this could actually push a developer into some pretty serious debt if faced with a lot of refunds.

And to be fair, 90 days is more than enough time to milk a lot of iPhone games dry, so even if they’re great, the likelihood remains that they’re going to be returned.

According to the rumour over on Kotaku (which we're hoping will evolve, if not turn out to be worrying gossip) this new agreement has to be signed by developers by the end of the week, and access to the App Store will be blocked for any who refuse to sign.

And the iPhone was doing so well...