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Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

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Re: Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

#501

Post by anigbrowl »

solidsnack9000 wrote: post #435
joseph_grobbles wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me be more explicit for you, then: I speed past a cop who is pointing his radar gun at me, staring at me , but for some reason he doesn't decide to pursue me (an experience many of us have actually had). Maybe it's an off day for him and he just doesn't care. Maybe he was confused about the speed limit on that stretch. Maybe he is waiting for a bigger fish. Maybe he likes my car (or skin) color and decided to loo…

If (a) there is no definite speed limit, just an imprecise policy statement (like "don't drive too fast") and (b) a person drives by the same cops for years at the same speed and gets clocked and doesn't get ticketed, and then (c) is one day pulled over and told that they're driving imprudently, then they indeed have a basis for complaint. That is exactly how this works. The interplay between vague policies and regul…

But there already is a bright line rule here, it has just not been diligently enforced up to now. The basic argument is that the Amphetamine app has been able to slide for so long that the ToS provision it violates should be treated as a dead letter, or as if some statute of limitations had expired; the Amphetamine brand has existed so long (and under such favorable conditions) in the app store that the developer now has an economic interest in the brand, gained through a reliance on Apple's non-enforcement of this ToS provision.

The developer could try suing Apple on the basis of laches, the legal doctrine whereby if one party has 'slept on their rights' so long that the situation changed, they can't suddenly decide to enforce a term later. But there's no hard and fast rule about this, and since it would tie Apple's hands they'd probably fight it tooth and nail, throwing enough legal resources at it to wear out any opposition.

Re: Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

#502

Post by webmobdev »

andai wrote: post #420
panta wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple doesn’t give a scheise about developers anymore. IMHO this is going to devalue the platform in the long term, but they seem to think differently.

Consumers don't give a scheise about developers either.

It's more due to ignorance though. All other things being equal, many would prefer to buy directly from the creator if they realize that they can save money, and the creator gets more profit. Apple is right now a corrupt middle-man bureaucrat between them, demanding a bribe from both to make a trade, but the consumers just aren't aware of that.

Re: Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

#503

Post by danlugo92 »

webmobdev wrote: post #266
mmaunder wrote: post #23

You’re angry. I’ve felt this in a trademark lawsuit. You think the world should get behind you and change the corrupt system. My advice is to immediately rebrand as gracefully and effectively as possible and use all that activist energy to effect the transition. They kind of have a point which doesn’t make them right, but they hold all the cards and you will lose this one and regret the wasted bandwidth.

> My advice is to immediately rebrand as gracefully and effectively as possible and use all that activist energy to effect the transition. Apple will definitely appreciate it if all of us would just shut up and let them screw us. While I appreciate your well-meaning advise to the author - pick your battles in life carefully - I'd like to add that using your anger constructively at some injustice is a positive move to…

The first mistake he made was making an app for the apple app store.

We can blame the users all we want but, as devs we also contribute to the problem when we publish (independently of course, not as employees).

Re: Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

#504

Post by smolder »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #433
ufmace wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. Certain internet communities have a culture of dunking on them, but they do not represent any kind of real majority. The housing market continues to show a preference towards communities with HOAs.

HOA for thee, not for me. That's my take. If I want to practice drums in my garage the neighbors can go pound sand. But when a neighbor decides to park their truck in their yard I'm all for HOAs.

These are probably just examples but I'm firmly in the no-HOA crowd. If my home owning neighbor with a yard wants to park a truck in their yard I really don't care, and I abhor any organization that punishes someone for that. They could have a perfectly good reason to park it there. I've had former neighbors yell at me for fixing my car in my own driveway which makes no sense whatsoever except perhaps to privileged elitists with no DIY skills.

Re: Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

#505

Post by xenihn »

solidsnack9000 wrote: post #421
sudosysgen wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not illegal, it is perfectly legal, but like driving a car you need to go through a process for it that not everyone can clear. For example, if you have issues staying awake from narcolepsy it's possible to legally obtain amphetamines, and our society generally accepts this to be a good thing.

One way it's different from driving a car is that you can own a car without having a license -- car possession is not regulated -- whereas the possession of controlled substances is what's regulated.

Another side of this: consumption is not regulated. So you can consume, but not possess.

Re: Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

#506

Post by nerdponx »

panta wrote: post #375
webmobdev wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My advice is to immediately rebrand as gracefully and effectively as possible and use all that activist energy to effect the transition. Apple will definitely appreciate it if all of us would just shut up and let them screw us. While I appreciate your well-meaning advise to the author - pick your battles in life carefully - I'd like to add that using your anger constructively at some injustice is a positive move to…

Apple doesn’t give a scheise about developers anymore. IMHO this is going to devalue the platform in the long term, but they seem to think differently.

Value is relative. I don't see a comparable platform anywhere or coming any time soon.

Re: Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

#507

Post by chaboud »

tengbretson wrote: post #496
0xEFF wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you expect to see a box on a shelf of any retail store labeled, “Amphetamine” with a colorful picture of drugs? It’s entirely reasonable for the retail store to tell the vendor to rename the product or else it will be removed from the shelf.

My grocery store sells an energy drink called liquid death.

I’m pretty sure that Liquid Death is just water.

Re: Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

#509

Post by strken »

jethro_tell wrote: post #443
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #406

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Freedom of speech means the government won't/can't prosecute you for what you say The First Amendment says this. Freedom of speech is “a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction” [1]. It is broader than the First Amendment, and gave rise to it, though the First Amendment is its most successfu…

No, you have the right to hold and express any view you want. You don't get to choose peoples reaction or the way they view you after you say something. That would be infringing on their right to hold or express opinions about your views. What's complicated about that?

The complicated part is that freedom of speech is both a legal right in the US and an ethical principle globally, and your legal rights are less broad than the ethical principle. Something that is legal can still be in violation of the ethical principle.

You say "[we] don't get to choose [people's reactions]", but this is not at all relevant. We're not asking whether their actions are legal or whether we can legally dictate what they think, we're asking whether they're acting ethically.

Re: Apple has threatened to remove Amphetamine from the App Store

#510

Post by webmobdev »

gambiting wrote: post #382
0xEFF wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you expect to see a box on a shelf of any retail store labeled, “Amphetamine” with a colorful picture of drugs? It’s entirely reasonable for the retail store to tell the vendor to rename the product or else it will be removed from the shelf.

No, because at a retail store the expectation is that if I see a box labeled "amphetamine" it better contain actual amphetamine. Obviously that's not acceptable, so it's not going to happen. When I buy software, I certainly don't expect to get drugs. When I buy a game called "Surgeon Simulator" I don't expect to receive actual surgeon training any more than I expect to get amphetamine after getting an app called amph…

Good point. And the App Store is not a retail store - developers PAY THEM to distribute their wares. They are Apple's customers too!
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