Apple yanks iPhone game for being "too much like Tetris"

Actually, you're quite wrong.

Although shaker shares the Tetris game concept, this aspect of the game is not patented, uncopyrightable, and has nothing to do with Trademark.

So, in terms of intellectual property, Shaker is completely in the clear.

The Tetris Company has only been able to scare off game developers who do not know their rights

Check out http://desiree47.wordpress.com/2008/12/07/the-tetris-company-and-the-iphone/

and DXG's comment in the forum: http://forum.freeadvice.com/copyrights-trademarks-39/cease-desist-letters-tetris-company-386711.html

Shoryuken!

Yeah 'Tris' and 'Touchris' have already been removed for the same reason. This is not even a story.

I agree with AaronH and RobK. There probably is no violation of IP here. Even though it's clearly a Tetris clone, patent laws don't apply to game concepts. And if even if Tetris were patented, it would have expired. And copyrights don't protect game concepts...they protect the wording of the instruction manual, the binary data, and certain arbitrary aspects of look&feel that are generally separate from the functional aspects of the game.

I'm wondering if this was an official cease&desist done by a lawyer. I think that a lawyer's code of professional ethics would prevent him from knowingly misrepresenting the law. I wouldn't back down so easily.

Here's my favorite response to a C&D letter:
http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/blue-jeans-strikes-back

http://abednarz.net/wp/?cat=8

Note this is from 1999

Hasbro had sued a number of retro games companies over alledged copyright violations. One of those companies it sued, Webfoot Technologies has settled out of court. One of the owners of Webfoot posted a comment on slashdot and they gave me permission to repost that comment here.
US Copyright Law An idea or concept can not be copyrighted. The Tetris Company’s code, graphics, music (etc) is copyrighted, but the

Wasn't there an article the other day on emacs having a Tetris easter egg (http://www.tuaw.com/2008/10/01/terminal-tips-play-tetris-in-terminal/), maybe Apple should pull emacs and Terminal from all their OS as well, as I am sure that those infringe upon the "copyright/trademark" of Tetris as well.

This has a much broader implication... games being rejected simply because a comparable game already exists within the App Store. It could literally end up a "first come, first serve" situation for game developers where the first one to submit a certain type of game becomes the only version of that type of game you can get for your iPhone, even if the version you created is superior to the other offering.

The game Expando is a direct clone of my game Filler, but I bet Apple would ignore me outright if I contacted them with my complaints.

I smell another class action suit brewing........

News alert: Apple is not one of the 3 branches of government and has absolutely no place deciding if something is infringing. That is for a court of law.

Expecting (or even wanting) Apple to do this is like asking them to not carry movies that seem like some other movie. It is not their place to decide that "Deep Impact" is too much like "Armageddon," and it is not their place to decide if a game infringes on someone else's property.

With most DRM we've already entered into an era where companies are using technology to circumvent fair use laws they don't like. Are we now going to hand over full blown censorship powers, too?