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TUAW Memewatch: iPhone developers irked over still-active NDA

by Erica Sadun Jul 23rd 2008 at 3:15PM

On July 11, the iPhone SDK emerged from beta sparkling with dew. Trumpets sounded and a few frolicking nymphs danced in joy. The dawn shone bright, the sky offered the blue promise of a new day. And there in the meadow of newly released products stood a mass of grumpy developers shouting: "What about the *@!$%ing NDA?"

For the happy blue release fairy had granted the developers' wishes but had neglected one teeny tiny detail: the restrictive, regressive NDA still ruled over iPhone-land from its dark menacing tower in far-off Cupertino. The hard-working developers could not bring forth their coding jewels from the mines of iPhone Mordor. Instead, they labored under the cruel chains of confidential information and non-specific release clauses. Moreover, their inability to talk freely with one another about their challenges and successes hampered the advancement of the platform.

And then voices rose up: "We're mad as heck! And we're not going to take it any more!" And thus was born, Effing NDA.com. (Yes, that has been bowdlerized and the link is NSFW). Developers started tweeting their rage -- from the high hills of Oz to the depths of Silicon Valley.

And how does this little fairy tale end? We don't know for sure. It all rests in Apple's hands. Let's hope for a happy ending.



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On July 11, the iPhone SDK emerged from beta sparkling with dew. Trumpets sounded and a few frolicking nymphs danced in joy. The dawn...
 

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Kai Cherry

The NDA is still in effect because the Section 3.[REDACTED] part, aka the DoomHammer, goes into great detail about the level of suck going on with the agreement.

What is worse tho, is that app devs are getting their apps rated low9er) due to things they haven't implemented that would make their apps MUCH more attractive, but the NDA doesn't allow you to explain what the problem is to (ahem) "your" without running afould of it.

July 24 2008 at 10:47 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kento Ito

I think the iPhone SDK has become a trade secret, so EVERY SINGLE DEVELOPER MUST sign the NDA, since it is a trade secret....

July 24 2008 at 12:06 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ccooper

Hey, Weblogs, Inc. It's time to Spawn "Iphone" into it's own blog...

Over...

July 23 2008 at 8:46 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Daniel D

I dont get it why doesnt someone just violate it anonymously or something

July 23 2008 at 7:56 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
James

Wait wait wait. The NDA is still in effect? So you can't talk about programming techniques? You can't post sample code? No books? No forums? No discussions? No classes? No library projects?

They do want this to be successful, don't they?

July 23 2008 at 7:17 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to James's comment
Dan S.

In order:

Yep.
Nope.
Exactomundo.
Nada.
You got it.
Zilch.
Zero.
None so far.

I believe it already is -- Apps are in the store and selling. And iPhones are selling at twice the rate of the originals.

July 24 2008 at 9:58 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Eugene

You filled out an NDA. ie. signed a legal binding contract. Its a pain. But that's life no?.

btw. I reiterate. Its a pain. But you did sign a legal doc.

July 23 2008 at 5:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Eugene's comment
JKT

And just because it's legal document makes everything else OK? The law is absolute? To the heck with morality and what is right and logical and sensible, you simply fall back on "it's legal" and shrug your shoulders? How lame.
"'Tis better to disobey a just law than to obey an unjust one." -- Thomas Jefferson

July 23 2008 at 8:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
JKT

And just because it's legal document makes everything else OK? The law is absolute? To the heck with morality and what is right and logical and sensible, you simply fall back on "it's legal" and shrug your shoulders? How lame.
"'Tis better to disobey a just law than to obey an unjust one." -- Thomas Jefferson

July 23 2008 at 8:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
homagetogorto

You make an logical well-reasoned argument for terminating the NDA.

Oh wait, no you don't.

July 23 2008 at 5:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Big John

Man, I'm glad TUAW is reporting Twitter memes now. Especially ones used by 13 people.

July 23 2008 at 4:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Big John's comment
Dan S.

Well, this Twitter post to TUAW puts another $5 in Erica's pocket -- plus, as long as she's under NDA, her book on the SDK is going nowhere fast -- especially since her first book, "Taking your iPhone to the Maxx!!!!one!1!one!!" is probably not selling so well, now that 2.0 is public.

And, it's obvious that the massive royalties from "Eight Ways to Get the Most out of Your Zune" -- which I assume are: 1)Doorstop, 2)Paperweight, 3)Blunt Instrument, 4)Joke Doggie Poop, 5)Tattoo inspiration, 6)Construction material/landfill, 7)Fix a wobbly table, 8)Media Player..? (really?!?)

July 24 2008 at 9:55 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Michael

Keeping the non disclosure agreement intact allows apple to freely ignore adding apps to the store that challenge its future profitability or at&t's/other carriers. All the while since the developers have not been able to tell us they are working on the project, we're none the wiser. Big brother apple in action...sounds more like something the Big brother M would do though.

July 23 2008 at 4:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
z peskin

what does the NDA exactly say????

July 23 2008 at 4:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to z peskin's comment
Chris Born

Can't tell you, that is under NDA too.

July 23 2008 at 4:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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