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EFF claims Apple developer agreement blocks freedom

by on09 January 2015


More oppressive than Saudi

Apple's autocratic Dev Agreement means that the Electronic Foundation Frontier can't put out an iPhone version of its App.

This week the EFF launched a new app that will make it easier for people to take action on digital rights issues using their phone. The app allows folks to connect to its action centre quickly and easily, using a variety of mobile devices.

However, the EFF said it could not release its app on the iPhone because it could not agree to the "outrageous terms" in Apple's Developer Agreement and Apple's DRM requirements.

What got the EFF's goat was the following clauses in the agreement:

Ban on Public Statements: Section 10.4 prohibits developers from making any "public statements" about the terms of the Agreement. This is particularly strange, since the Agreement itself is not "Apple Confidential Information" as defined in Section 10.1. So the terms are not confidential, but developers are contractually forbidden from speaking "publicly" about them.

Ban on Reverse Engineering: Section 2.6 prohibits any reverse engineering (including the kinds of reverse engineering for interoperability that courts have recognised as a fair use under copyright law), as well as anything that would "enable others" to reverse engineer, the software development kit (SDK) or iPhone OS.

App Store Only: Section 7.3 makes it clear that any applications developed using Apple's SDK may only be publicly distributed through the App Store, and that Apple can reject an app for any reason, even if it meets all the formal requirements disclosed by Apple. So if you use the SDK and your app is rejected by Apple, you're prohibited from distributing it through competing app stores like Cydia.

No Tinkering with Any Apple Products: Section 3.2(e) is the "ban on jailbreaking" provision that appears to prohibit developers from tinkering with any Apple software or technology, not just the iPhone, or "enabling others to do so."

Apple Owns Your Security: Section 6.1 explains that Apple has to approve any bug fixes or security releases. If Apple does not approve such updates very quickly, this requirement could put many people in jeopardy.

Kill Your App Any Time: Section 8 makes it clear that Apple can "revoke the digital certificate of any of Your Applications at any time." Steve Jobs once confirmed that Apple can remotely disable apps, even after they have been installed by users. This contract provision would appear to allow that.

"Lots of developers hold their nose and sign the agreement despite these onerous conditions, and that's understandable. The Apple App store is a huge market and hard to ignore if you want your business to succeed. And sometimes, developers have to weigh these onerous restrictions against not just their ability to survive financially, but also their ability to reach and protect users from snooping and censorship," the EFF said.

The EFF said it was proud of the tool it had developed and think it offers a great new way for people to speak up and take action. It wanted to be available and used by as many people as possible, including iPhone users. That is impossible.

The last straw was when the EFF was told it had to include a form of Digital Rights Management (DRM). "When we create tools for EFF, we want them to be broadly available to others to use, adapt, and customise. That's why we work to make our technical projects based on free software, and avoid DRM," the EFF said.
Of course it does not really matter. Apple users are not fond of freedom anyway.

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