The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports on the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement, and its a doozy. Section 10.4 (ok, so its not the ‘first rule’, but it made a catchy title) lays out that you are not allowed to talk about the agreement:
10.4 Press Releases and Other Publicity
You may not issue any press releases or make any other public statements regarding this Agreement, its terms and conditions, or the relationship of the parties without Apple’s express prior written approval, which may be withheld at Apple’s discretion.
Doesn’t that seem a bit harsh? They can’t even talk about an agreement they sign? But it gets even better. If you make an app for the iPhone you can only put it on the Apple App Store (Section 7.2), you cannot put it on your web site and offer it for free, it has to go through Apple. I guess they are wanting their pound of flesh. They also try to limit any potential damages to $50 (section 14), which I don’t think would hold up in any court, but then again Apple has a ton of lawyers and most small developers or individuals do not.
Section 15.2 also states that you consent to Apple taking non-personal data from your computer. Now this is probably in every Apple agreement out there, even to using the App Store, but call me old fashioned I don’t like it. There used to be a time when companies paid for this information, now its just assumed. Now don’t get me wrong, I realise that everything we do is monitored, from the groceries we buy, to credit card usage, etc, but I would like a few things to not be just assumed is ok.
Now most of the agreement is pretty cut and dried normal. Well normal for one of these documents to be anyway, stuff I would consider common sense, like if Apple gives you software to develop something don’t give it to someone else. See that’s common sense, but because companies and individuals are greedy idiots, things like this have to be added to these agreements.
One other thing the EFF nailed this whole thing on the head is this:
If Apple’s mobile devices are the future of computing, you can expect that future to be one with more limits on innovation and competition (or “generativity,” in the words of Prof. Jonathan Zittrain) than the PC era that came before. It’s frustrating to see Apple, the original pioneer in generative computing, putting shackles on the market it (for now) leads. If Apple wants to be a real leader, it should be fostering innovation and competition, rather than acting as a jealous and arbitrary feudal lord. Developers should demand better terms and customers who love their iPhones should back them.
June 23rd, 2010 
Cliff Riseborough 
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