Re: Apple bans App Store’s 3rd-most prolific developer

Apple ejected Perfect Acumen's 900 useless apps, ostensibly for copyright infringement, wrote Gagan Biyani for MobileCrunch.

My advice to Apple and other mobile app store operators?

Be upfront and consistent with your developers. New policy? Set expectations through proper notice and change management. Developers need a playing field everyone can trust.

As for the rules, stick to technical merit.

Utility should be left to buyers.

A store should help users choose well, distinguish gems from rubble. A store should help users talk about products, before and after buying, with suppliers and with each other. 

Tolerate crap in the store.

There should be horrible, disturbing, wastes of screen space. Just like there's lots of crap everywhere else on the Internet.

Mounds of trite and useless apps show developers experimenting with your medium, show evolutionary pressure is at work, induce newbies to jump in to do better. You're doing plenty by checking basic safety issues, like does-this-app-brick-my-iphone or is-this-app-malware. 

Be a common carrier.

Let the infringed sue the infringer, the offended mouth off, the developer express controversial notions and values. Let the marketplace of ideas choose freely. Stick to helping people find and run apps.

Software is speech.

Safeguard that speech.

Even when you'd never invite it home for supper.

tags: apple, iphone, devrels, appstore, perfectacumen, policy

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