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EFF takes issue with Apple’s developer agreement, refuses to launch mobile app for iOS

EFF app for Android

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has released an app for Android devices, but announced today that it has no plans to bring the software to Apple’s iOS platform. The reason, the organization said, is that it simply cannot agree to Apple’s developer agreement.

The EFF specifically called out six points in the document that it took issue with, although it noted that there were even more problems it didn’t have the space to mention. The complaints aren’t new—many of them date back to 2010—but it seems the foundation is determined once again to make its points heard.

From the EFF’s blog post:

As we have been saying for years now, the Developer Agreement is bad for developers and users alike. Here are a few of the terms that we are worried about:

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 recognized 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.

The organization has a mixed relationship with Apple. Last year it praised the Cupertino company’s “remarkable improvement” in the area of customer data protection and gave high marks in security to both iMessage and FaceTime.

The flipside of this is the EFF’s work to ensure that jailbreaking an iOS device remains legal despite Apple’s best attempts to scare users out of installing modifications to their phones and tablets. There are also the issues with the App Store model mentioned above.

It’s unlikely that the EFF will compromise its ideals to publish an app on iOS, though it’s always possible the software could eventually be released through the Cydia store on jailbroken devices—an course of action technically prohibited by the developer agreement against which the EFF is trying to take a stand.

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Comments

  1. Bradlee TheDawg - 9 years ago

    Apple can do that. They can do whatever they want. I understand why developers don’t like it, but at the same time, Apple’s iron-fisted control over hardware/software is the single reason their stuff always works-as-advertised and Wintel/Android/Whatever stuff absolutely does not. Instead of ranting about what ‘might happen’ – EFF should at history, since that’s always the best indicator of future performance. What they’d find is that most of their fears are totally unfounded – Apple deals fairly with their developers. I’d much rather work with Apple than with Microsoft, which is a study in one hand never knowing what’s up with the other. But hey – if EFF is willing to give up half of it’s potential market-share – I guess that’s their stoopid mistake to make.

    • stuffradio (@stuffradio) - 9 years ago

      The biggest flaw with your post, which is the very foundation of your post, is that Apple’s iron-fisted control over hardware/software hasn’t made it so “their stuff always works-as-advertised”. You’re just trying to troll because of what you followed this flawed statement up with. (“Wintel”) I guess you conveniently forgot about the iOS 8 launch which broke iPhone 6 and 6+ phones.

      • Ah yes. Anytime someone mentions something that others don’t like, that person is called a troll. You people kill me.

      • Wayne – I’ve made that exact comment many times too and your exactly right. Troll is name bandied about by those people who are unwilling to engage or willing to accept others points of view.

    • hijaszu - 9 years ago

      Don’t forget the fact that several programs were rejected by Apple and then 1-2 years later they came out with the same idea… However, I’m not a fan of EFF’s viewpoint either, just is it not as black and white as you depict it.

    • TechPeeve (@TechPeeve) - 9 years ago

      Your statement is saturated with bias and basically untrue at so many levels.

    • Asbjørn Ulsberg - 9 years ago

      People said “it’s their platform, they can do what they want” about Microsoft 15 years ago too. They lost the antitrust case, remember? Not that antitrust practice and the content of an agreement are the same thing, but the “it’s their platform” argument doesn’t hold water. They have to operate under the law of the countries they do business in. Few of the claims Apple, and many others have in their EULAs and similar agreements are in practice worthless if and when they are tested in a court of law.

      Yes, Apple can write whatever they want in their agreements, but they can’t actually enforce anything that a judge will rule as invalid or even unlawful. And some of the things they have in their App Store Developer Agreement are of such character that I completely understand EFF’s position.

  2. iSRS - 9 years ago

    I think some of these groups (EFF, MoveOn, etc) get too big for their britches sometimes. They start out with the best intentions, then start getting all preachy. I am not sure what this blog post has to do with the mission of the EFF. Just because they don’t like terms, they make a fuss? Assuming these are the top issues (in their too many to list), the only one I see as an issue is the ban on public statements.

  3. macearlybird - 9 years ago

    Bradlee – Do you realize what your said- “They can do whatever they want.” Are you sure? Some day the US Justice Department will go after Apple again because they can’t do anything they want.

    • iSRS - 9 years ago

      What laws are Apple breaking?

      • fabrica64 - 9 years ago

        Antitrust law? E.g. exclusive dealing, restraint of trade, product tying… I am not a lawyer and the antitrust law was written when no concept of software and platform existed, but I think Apple and others are not fully legal when restricting access to their platform. Obviously it’s very difficult (and expensive) taking them to court, and sofware as a whole seems to be living in another legalsphere.

      • chrisw52 - 9 years ago

        Its their platform, they can set the rules.

      • iSRS - 9 years ago

        I think the argument for anti-trust falls apart because no one is forcing you to buy and Apple smartphone. You are free to choose which brand you want. if they were locking down the iPhone to only allow their apps, then, maybe, I could see it, but I can’t but a smart tv and put any app I want on it, or a chrome stick or a kindle.

      • “I am not a lawyer…” Then please shut up. You sound like clueless politicos who preface their ignorance with declarations like this.

      • fabrica64 - 9 years ago

        @sonsofares I just meant that if Chevrolet stated that you can only use Goodyear tyres American people would scream loud (even if nobody force you to buy a Chevrolet), but if this is happening with software it seems just the right thing to do, and if it’s Apple then, oh well, just insult whoever dares to criticize them…

      • jfairweather - 9 years ago

        Cars and tires? It is about safety. Remember the Firestone debacle a few years ago? A huge batch of tires on Ford Explorers had not been tested properly and they tended to fly apart at highway speeds, resulting in a number of fatal accidents.
        It is not about the brand of tire or the model of tire. It is whether is meets safety standards.
        It’s more like insisting on the dropping all consumer safety laws, removing all safety checks and telling people that it is their right to drive an unsafe vehicle. To give a real-world example, there is a huge industry out there where companies buy totaled cars from insurance companies, straighten frames, add bondo and clean them up, then sell them by the boatload (literally) to third-world countries. The fatality rate for these cars is five times that of other vehicles.
        I lived for years in east Africa and this stuff was regularly in the papers. The US government does not allow this to happen because they know that these vehicles are a danger to the public. Living in the US will all the safety regulations beats the heck out of living in a country where such regulations do not exist.
        53% of Android apps either contain malware outright or leave the platform wide open for hacking. I am very, very glad that Apple’s policies are what they are and that, as a result, my platform of choice is far safer than the alternative.

      • varera (@real_varera) - 9 years ago

        @Sones of Ares – Do not shut anybody up here, stupid boychik. Just to quote your white supremacist ass: “The biggest Internet trolls are the also the biggest pussies in real life.”

        As for your ignorance, please be advised, Ares is a Greek god, not a race. Meditate on that.

  4. opsono - 9 years ago

    The first two objections are relevant, material, and competent. The others are irrelevant, immaterial, and incompetent. Yeah, I’ve been watching a lot of Perry Mason recently.

  5. dfp (@dfp) - 9 years ago

    EFF, get over it. While I can understand your idealism, and your objections-in-principle about most of the points listed (and yes, even agree with some of them), the fact is that none of those issues actually prevent you from launching your app on iOS. If your app is so important, I’d think you’d hold your nose, get your info/messaging/fundraising/”you are awesome” app out there for people to use, and continue fighting the good fight to change policy by advocacy rather than whining, taking your ball and bat and going home. This move feels churlish, childish and beneath your organization.

  6. Ryan (@rman0726) - 9 years ago

    So the whole point of the app is to get people to join their causes and speak out against things, yet they are eliminating hundreds of millions of potential helpers? And damn near half of America, which is their target audience. That makes sense. Not that I would ever download the app even if it were available…

  7. The foot stamping app seems to be working just fine.

  8. Avenged110 - 9 years ago

    Their store and platform; do as they wish. No reason they shouldn’t have that right.

    • fabrica64 - 9 years ago

      Yes, you’re right. And Samsung may force you to put only Swanson TV dinners into “their” microwave ovens, it’s their oven, right?

      • iSRS - 9 years ago

        These Chevy/Swanson issues aren’t the same. Does Samsung allow you to install any app on their TVs? Does Roku allow you to install apps on their box?

      • Avenged110 - 9 years ago

        Better example: Samsung doesn’t allow you to install custom software on your smart oven. Of which there’s no problem.

      • Mike Beasley - 9 years ago

        If Samsung forced people to only put specific types of food into their microwaves, people who didn’t want to eat those types of food would simply buy a different microwave. Same solution works on mobile phones.

      • fabrica64 - 9 years ago

        @iSRS no Samsung doesn’t let you install any app, because software is treated differently from any other good. You don’t even have guarantee or any other obligation with software. If a car or a oven doesn’t work you may legally complain, not with software. With software Americans accept terms they would never do with other goods, that’s the strange thing. In America you can sue if a coffee is too hot but not if a software has bugs

  9. PMZanetti - 9 years ago

    I don’t Apps from any developers that CAN’T comply with those guidelines. Period.

  10. castelbuono - 9 years ago

    I highly value the framework Apple has put in place to ensure sound security, and developer congruency with IOS and Apple’s content requirements. When I use my iPhone or iPad, I have complete confidence it will function as Apple intended. I’m not interested in jailbreaking my phone, or for that matter, supporting developers who won’t comply with Apple’s IOS developer requirements.

  11. jfairweather - 9 years ago

    Most of this is simple whining. This developer is upset because they are not allowed to fiddle with the OS despite the fact that the relaxation of a number of these rules would leave the platform wide open for exploitation by developers having criminal intent, essentially making iOS users just as vulnerable as Android users.
    If these guys want to be Android-only, power to them. May they make an absolute fortune. Their app will not be missed on iOS.

  12. danbridgland - 9 years ago

    What’s so special about the EFF App anyway? It doesn’t look much like and App that would rock my world.

    No thank you EFF, you stick with Android, no loss there.

  13. Lagax (@Lagax_) - 9 years ago

    Does anybody care about these agreements? I don’t think there is any developer not jailbreaking, not talking about this… Who cares about the non-discosure agreement? Apple doesn’t (if developers speak up they usually think about their decisions)! Apple only makes these rules so that if something really bad happens they can blame you, but they would never enforce you to stop doing these things unless/until that happens.

  14. Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 9 years ago

    EFF? Never heard of it. And why would i want EFF software in the first place? What does it do?

  15. Daniel J. Cox - 9 years ago

    Good riddance. The issues they are complaining about are the exact items that make iOS and other Mac Apps virtually bullet proof to Malware and other nefarious attackers. I’m very pleased that Apple keeps a handle on who gets in and how they come to play when we’re talking about device security. Apple’s stringent requirements for building apps for their devices is one of the main reasons I love my Apple prodcts.

  16. John Smith - 9 years ago

    Sounds like a publicity stunt by the ‘EFF’ ( whoever they are)

    1) Create a bogus app with no real purpose.

    2) Refuse to release it on apple app store due to conditions they knew about from day one.

    Apple app restrictions – like a lot of their other restrictions – are a two way thing. OK, less flexibility but on the other hand more safety/security.

    People have a choice here – android offers more freedom/flexibility but more risk if people don’t like the apple approach.

  17. Michael Wright - 9 years ago

    Apple has become the ‘New’ Microsoft, albeit with a fat chick who has suddenly gained popularity attitude.

    What makes Apple successful is a combination of things…. Marketing, packaging, paid trolling to sway public attention, theft, manipulation, socially engrained cast of characters from a well scripted PIXAR movie, did I mention legal nazis? to cover their tracks?

    When you get too big, people begin to turn against the polished turds they keep pushing out of the port-a-potties they call Apple Stores. Just wait, the market is beginning to turn against the machine. Leaves room for whats next. I am really going to enjoy watching their slow, agonizing, hilarious corporate death.

    I wonder who Apples (Steve Balmer) sic. will be? Any guesses?

  18. rjlawrencejr - 9 years ago

    While I am sure the EFF is doing a bit of grandstanding, I can understand their opposition. On the other hand, I also understand Apple’s stance. But remember, there’s one aspect Apple can’t control: the web, which to me neutered some of this quibbling.

  19. Joel Henson - 9 years ago

    What is EFF anyway? By “making their point” they’re just hurting their own business.

  20. lowtolerance - 9 years ago

    Oh man, an Android only EFF app? Apple is doomed. Whatever will we do without this app that does basically nothing but notify you about EFF news?

  21. mynotdailyjournal - 9 years ago

    If this is true, the EFF is “biting its nose to spite its face”.