
Apple pulls cloned games from App Store - ukdm
http://venturebeat.com/2012/02/07/apple-pulls-cloned-games-from-app-store/
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theanswriz42
Bet they aren't pulling the games Zynga have been ripping for sometime now.

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gtaylor
Definitely a good point, but they're such a cash cow that you have to figure
they will mysteriously avoid this new policy.

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bproper
Policing seems like a good way to spend a little of the $100B in cash Apple
has lying around. The happier their developer community, the healthier that
ecosystem will be, and the more phones and tablets will be sold.

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atomicdog
They pulled "Temple Jump" because it received too much negative press
coverage. However, "Eclipsecraft" and all the other scam games by "Top Best
Adult Entertainment" are still available...

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jmazur
"with titles like Plant vs. Zombie, Angry Ninja Birds, and Temple Jump"

This doesn't surprise me.

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gte910h
Apple isn't just removing clones: It's removing clones that use the trademark
of the original app to confuse.

An important distinction.

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duskwuff
A while ago, I was playing with a Playbook tablet... opened up their app
store, and the top free and paid apps were a pair of games both called "Fruit
and Ninja". (Not Fruit Ninja.) All kinds of classy.

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hack_edu
One can only wonder how many Apps would have to be purged in order to live up
to this promise. Now imagine how many non-game apps would be under the same
campaign; their entire App industry would collapse.

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gurkendoktor
Except that the App industry is not a direct profit maker for Apple at all. It
is an ecosystem that boosts hardware sales. What matters is not the number of
apps or the cash handed out to developers, it is end-user happiness. That's
what leads to such seemingly incoherent decisions.

Anecdotally, the apps with good ratings that I saw in the App Store charts
have never been rip-offs.

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throwaway64
Define "ripoff", angry birds is a rehash of a concept that has been very
popular in flash games since pre-2000.

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gurkendoktor
Was the Flash game called "Disgruntled Ducks" and featured blue boars as the
enemies? If yes, then it would be comparable to the OP.

As far as I can see this is not about protecting gameplay concepts, rather
than brands.

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1880
Meanwhile, in Android...
[https://market.android.com/details?id=com.wikilibs.fan_templ...](https://market.android.com/details?id=com.wikilibs.fan_temple_run_fan_2_app)

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SquareWheel
There is one paragraph, and it clearly says "Please note this is not the
actual Temple Run game". There's plenty of real examples of people trying to
confuse players into purchasing screenshots, this is not one.

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1880
Have a look at this[1] e-mail. Would you say that it's not a scam because it
clearly says "this notice is not (...) associated with a continuation of
services for domain registration"?

[1]: <http://i.imgur.com/1fJAh.png> (via reddit <http://www.reddit.com/pbvtg>)

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SquareWheel
No, I'd say that's clearly a scam. I don't believe that malice is involved in
the app above, where it is obviously the case in the phony domain notice.

I've seen them myself, it's why I apply WhoisGuard to my domains.

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1880
Well, you're right, it's not the best example: one steals money from the user,
the other doesn't.

But why would anybody make an app called "<popular app> Fan App" if it's not
to take advantage of its fame, confuse users and make quick money (with ads or
affiliate links or whatever)?

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robomartin
Next: Zynga! Please.

Restore balance to the force!

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joejohnson
>>>Temple Jump, however, was a scam intended to trick customers into thinking
the app is related to Temple Run. It had a similar icon, vague description,
and a single screenshot that did not show any gameplay.

Zynga does clone games (like nearly every studio does). However, their games
are clearly distinct and not intended to trick customers of a competing
product.

