896610 - (content-control) [Theme] Content Control - Geo-restricted App Distribution under Developer Control

Status: NEW

(Tracking :: User Story, defect, P1)

Description

[David Bialer [:dbialer]]

There have been several requests to be able to have certain apps only viewed and downloadable from certain countries.  The reasons for this as described in these use cases:
A developer has licensing restrictions on their rights to distribute content contained within their app and thus is unable to put their app in the Firefox Marketplace unless it can limit the distribution of the app to only people within specific countries.
A developer may have an app that is relevant to certain regions and does not wish or may not wish to provide support for to customers outside of its intended region.
A developer is concerned about technology IP issues that may be used within the app and does not wish to distribute it to certain regions of the world.
Any other random reason a developer wishes to only allow their app in certain regions.

Comment 1

[David Bialer [:dbialer]]

PRD is attached at URL or here: https://docs.google.com/a/mozilla.com/document/d/1uDwrfgJtOCtnCOV0QHCFeS8Je5ULPgjV_K4v-3F3tzc/edit

Comment 2

[Bram Pitoyo [:bram]]

Attachment: marketplace devhub - distribution method - 01

Restricting content to certain physical locations (meaning, countries) can be be achieved in our payment interface with the addition of two simple radio button called “generous” and “strict” under a heading called “distribution method”.

The way it works is pretty simple and hopefully also self-explanatory:
Every app gets its own control for distribution method. Generous means that user can switch stores to get the app. Strict means that user has to be in a certain country to get it.

The caption text in the mockup should be revised to be more in line with something like this:

Generous
Your app will be made available in the countries that you select. Customers can switch their store to another country to download your app.

Strict
Your app will only be made available to users located in the countries that you select. 

The caption isn’t final, so ideas are most welcome! I personally found it hard to succinctly explain store-country independence, because the model is so different from what app developers are accustomed to.


RESTRICTING TO CERTAIN CARRIERS
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We don’t have to worry about restricting to certain carriers yet. When we do, the new payment UI that I demoed at the payment workweek (circa August 23) should be able to handle this complexity.

To avoid complication stemming from the fact that customers can jump countries but stay under the same carrier, Maureen, David and myself have also agreed to not allow people who roam to get app. This will be relevant when the new payment UI is deployed. What do you think of this idea?