

Beware Developers: App Removed From App Store At Request of Competition - alex_c
http://www.app-vault.com/blog/app-removed-from-app-store-at-request-of-competition/

======
gcheong
I really don't understand why Apple would decide to do this. It would seem to
make more sense for Apple to tell the complainant to sue the competitor
directly and get a court order to remove the app from the store.

~~~
mattew
This is one of the big problems with the App store. If you develop for it, you
are really at the mercy of Apple's decision process with regard to who can
sell what in their store. It is their store, so they get to decide, but we as
software developers need to decide if it is worth the risk for the potential
reward you could see from having an app in their store. I personally am not
developing for the app store because I do not like the decisions that I have
seen Apple make.

~~~
stcredzero
_This is one of the big problems with the App store. If you develop for it,
you are really at the mercy of Apple's decision process_

"Decision process?" I think you're _really_ at the mercy of some mid-level
manager or some clueless flunky.

If they have a "decision process" I would _love_ to see the documentation they
have on it, and the notes from this one!

------
cubicle67
The side-by-side screenshots
<http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/8122/comparisondw.jpg> don't really help
their cause. It does indeed look like they took another app and made a screen
by screen rip-off of it. It's even been bitten by the same ugly bug that that
bit the original.

Copy or not, I don't think Apple should remove them though.

~~~
sirrocco
It doesn't really matter if they made a copy of it - they didn't steal the
code . They copied functionality ok, they may have done that but it's like :
Let's pull OpenOffice because they copied MSOffice . It's ridiculous .

They definitely shouldn't have removed them.

~~~
sailormoon
This isn't a court of law, it's a court of What Apple Says Goes. Their garden,
their rules.

I find it very easy to understand why Apple doesn't want to allow a culture of
crappy rip-offs to take root. Basic quality control.

~~~
invisible
From what I saw of the screenshots, AppVault (removed) looked wayyy better.
That's not a crappy rip-off, that's competition that is outdoing the
predecessor. Facebook was a "rip-off" of MySpace yet society (mostly) has
moved past MySpace.

------
DrJokepu
I got the feeling that there's more to this issue than that has been posted in
blogpost. I'd prefer to hear AppBox's side of the story before making a
judgement.

For example, having the "same graphics, layouts" with " with different color"
may be not just copying an idea, it migth mean copying the expression of the
idea as well. Being loud != being right.

~~~
Sapient
AppBox doesn't even mention which of their "copyrights" has been infringed,
and when looking at the side by side comparison screenshot, and reading their
complaint - I get the feeling they are acting like kids.

------
dzlobin
This is really getting a bit out of hand.

I request Bing be taken down because it's too similar to Google.

~~~
robryan
For that matter I request Google be taken down for being to much like
altavista

~~~
cema
I was about to say _I want Altavista taken down for being too much like
Altavista_ but then thought the joke may not be understood except by old
timers.

~~~
ComputerGuru
I'm so glad you _didn't_ post it anyway...

~~~
mattew
I remember some directory pages on Mosaic back in the days that seem very
similar to a lot of pages on the web now. Maybe they need to take down all the
web servers and replace with static html. :)

~~~
stcredzero
All these pages with the angle brackets -- I think I did some of that a dozen
years ago. Where's the number for my lawyer?

------
enjo
One note: Copyright law is a bit broader than the blog thinks. It's entirely
possible to create a derivative work even though the assets and code are 100%
newly created.

That said, this is clearly not an infringing case. While the functionality is
largely similar (although never really the same), the actual execution seems
to be hugely different to me. Apple clearly just wants to avoid litigation.

~~~
Sapient
I am not American, so I need to ask - why would Apple be worried about
litigation? I don't see how a widget shop can be sued for selling a product
when there is a dispute between two widget manufacturers.

~~~
BearOfNH
Because apparently they (Apple) took sides by ejecting one manufacturer. This
might even be a _conspiracy_.

And more generally, because here in America there is little downside risk in
filing a lawsuit.

~~~
Sapient
Thanks, but as I understand it, the reason they ejected one of the apps was
because they were possibly afraid of getting sued - which seems strange to me.

