PSO Pearson Plc

Apple Inc. (AAPL) shifted its App Store policies in a move that could have profound implications for media as the industry looks to the rise of the iPad and other mobile devices as a new opportunity to make money from the Web.

In revised App Store guidelines, the consumer electronics company appears to have loosened the rule forcing media app developers to only offer content for purchase through iTunes. Also, Apple dropped language that required media companies to offer paid content on the same terms that they offer the content elsewhere.

The changes come as media owners resist the restrictions posed by Apple's guidelines and as some, like Pearson PLC's (PSO) Financial Times, experimented with ways to get around the guidelines but still make their content available on Apple's popular devices.

Apple takes a 30% cut of all media purchases or subscription transactions that originate through its platform--a major financial drawback for media companies. Also, Apple controls the user information it gets from customers on its platform, information that media companies view as crucial for marketing, advertising and maintaining their connection with audiences.

There doesn't appear to be any changes made to Apple's app guidelines on how customer data is handled.

The changes, reported earlier by the blog MacRumors, comes as the popularity of Apple's devices--like its iPad, iPhone and iPod--have left media companies struggling to balance their need to partner with the tech company to remain relevant in the digital age with their wariness of Apple's growing power over their business.

There was no immediate reaction from media companies or Apple on the changes.

This isn't the first time that Apple has appeared to ease its app-developing rules in light of public pressure. For example, last year, the company allowed a Google Voice app after initially rejecting it.

-By Nat Worden, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2472; nat.worden@dowjones.com

(Ian Sherr contributed to this report.)

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