Most (but not all) orient around violations of Apple's developer TOS which are famously fickle and changeable. No emulators? Can't use "private APIs"? Microsoft was hauled in front of the DOJ for better. Could those using an Apple account to sign their non App Store apps be subject to similar, shifting rules about what's kosher and what's not?
And if Atari has really had apps pulled for supposedly bearing a "passing resemblance to an Atari classic", we're in weird territory. From my POV, there's just a creepy potential for blacklist first, ask questions later style arbitration on Apple's part.
As a once Apple fanboy who's still surrounded by Apple gear, this all seems a bit weird to say, but as a developer I'm not keen on this move at all.
On Thursday, when the company had a chance to edit the DOJ's antitrust remedy proposal, it added language stating that "nothing in this provision shall require Microsoft to disclose any internal interfaces of a Microsoft Operating System Product."
Throughout its edits of the DOJ proposal, Microsoft tried to draw a distinction between external APIs (which the company is willing to give away and already often does) and internal APIs (which it is fighting tooth and nail to keep under wraps).
Restricting access to and the lack of documentation for private APIs was a key part of the case, although due to its technical nature, was not particularly well publicized.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/01/03/ataris_legal_t... http://mashable.com/2011/12/12/apple-pulls-app/ http://www.iphonehacks.com/2012/01/process-killer-app-that-a... http://www.neoos.ch/blog/30-quickpick-pulled-from-app-store-... http://lifehacker.com/5614752/grooveshark-iphone-app-pulled-... http://www.joystiq.com/2011/12/28/imame-app-pulled-from-ios-... http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/01/match-com-app-store/
Most (but not all) orient around violations of Apple's developer TOS which are famously fickle and changeable. No emulators? Can't use "private APIs"? Microsoft was hauled in front of the DOJ for better. Could those using an Apple account to sign their non App Store apps be subject to similar, shifting rules about what's kosher and what's not?
And if Atari has really had apps pulled for supposedly bearing a "passing resemblance to an Atari classic", we're in weird territory. From my POV, there's just a creepy potential for blacklist first, ask questions later style arbitration on Apple's part.
As a once Apple fanboy who's still surrounded by Apple gear, this all seems a bit weird to say, but as a developer I'm not keen on this move at all.