Apple drops NDA on iPhone developers
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 08:04:00 10/02/2008
Filed Under: Infotech, Software, mobile phones
WASHINGTON -- Apple said Wednesday that it was dropping a controversial non-disclosure agreement that software developers who wanted to create applications for the iPhone mobile telephone had been forced to sign.
The non-disclosure agreement, or NDA, prevented software developers seeking to take part in the iPhone Developer Program from discussing their work, even with colleagues.
Apple's move to drop the NDA came just days after Internet search giant Google jumped into the mobile telephone market with a handset powered by Google's open-source Android software.
The ability of outside developers to freely write applications for the phone, the T-Mobile G1, which Google developed with telecom carrier T-Mobile, is seen as a major selling point by Google and its partners.
In a statement on the Apple Developer website, Apple said: "We have decided to drop the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for released iPhone software.
"We put the NDA in place because the iPhone OS (operating system) includes many Apple inventions and innovations that we would like to protect, so that others don’t steal our work.
"While we have filed for hundreds of patents on iPhone technology, the NDA added yet another level of protection. We put it in place as one more way to help protect the iPhone from being ripped off by others.
"However, the NDA has created too much of a burden on developers, authors and others interested in helping further the iPhone’s success, so we are dropping it for released software," Apple said.
Apple said unreleased software would remain under an NDA until it is released.
Outside developers seeking to create applications for the iPhone are still required to go through Apple's "App Store," which controls which applications are approved or not.
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