It's a bit different when a company is completely voluntarily engaging in self-destructive behavior - when it comes to the app store it is voluntary that folks post their apps there but Apple has an absolute monopoly on the market.

That nuance makes a major difference for sure in the situation. Mind I'm not rationalizing any behavior from either party. It's more an observation on the state of current affairs and how we've allowed it to come to this.

Oh it's absolutely terrifying - I just think it's important to highlight that in this situation there's a large power inbalance that doesn't exist in the SV example. It's likely most developers didn't walk into having an App knowing how this weird refund rule worked, so for most folks (if this is an issue) you've got the sunk cost of building the app already and have the choice of 1) putting up with Apple's arbitrary rules or 2) unlisting your app from the store and accepting that you'll never see another dime off your labour.