March 10th, 2010 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Platforms: iOS | No Comments »
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has done something no developer at all would consider. It publicly posted the full Apple developer license agreement and started slamming it.
As the foundation notices itself: ‘public statements regarding this Agreement, its terms and conditions, or the relationship of the parties without Apple's express prior written approval’. In other words, thou shall not speak about it.
The foundation does not have an agreement itself but got it through NASA. NASA is government funded, which means people in the US can acquire any information from the company under the Freedom of Information Act. So they asked for the agreement with Apple. Some highlights to those that consider iPhone development;
You can only release your iPhone products on the app store. You are also not allowed to modify any Apple products. Apple is also granted the possibility to remotely de-install your app from iPhones (what about the consumer’s voice?). Whatever happens, Apple will never be liable for more than $50 in damages, which is not much if the App Store is your only revenue source.
Check the full story and agreement at EFF if you are curious.
