Apple bans App Store spammer and his 900+ apps, now what?
The world’s a strange, strange place, but nothing can compare to alternate reality in which the iPhone software marketplace exists. Whereas Apple’s censors found plenty of time to reject Google Voice and related apps on AT&T’s behalf, they couldn’t be bothered to protect themselves, developers and customers in this massive case of fraud and copyright infringement.
Tech Crunch reports on the curious case of Perfect Acumen and Khalid Shaikh, apparently not the one time terrorist mastermind languishing in the Guantanamo Bay prison, who published 943 mostly useless iPhone apps in just under nine months. Although the company has 26 programmers, mostly overseas, they managed an average production rate of nearly four apps per day.
It’s pretty easy to leap to the conclusion that Perfect Acumen has been treated unfairly by Apple in pulling their iPhone developer license and all of those revenue making apps without warning or recourse. Cupertino’s actions may indeed have been less than perfectly implemented, but before we make that judgment it would be good to know how those relatively few people produced so much and managed to get it all by the censors in such a short time.
That is, a significant portion of those 943 apps must have been created in whole or part with “borrowed” code—even if every app was complete crap, it would require a massive effort to create that much garbage from scratch. As you might expect, complaints covering more than 100 apps involving stolen code from other developers was a factor in Perfect Acumen’s App Store ouster.
A grossly flawed process
This is hardly the first instance where Apple has caught itself approving garbage only to remove it later. However, this has to be most egregious instance—900-plus apps approved, for sale and then removed en masse.
That the mothership turned on a dime and summarily kicked Khalid Shaikh and his merry band off the App Store isn’t the issue. The problem is that it took them so long to realize this string errors and that so many people—it’s said this enterprise was generating thousands a day in revenue—were hurt before it was brought to a halt.
Thereupon, is there anyone in Cupertino working this case to make sure customers are getting refunds? I doubt it, too.
It’s becoming increasingly apparent that Apple can’t be trusted protect its own interests, let alone the interests of its developers and customers. What should Apple do about the App Store or will the status quo continue until federal regulators intervene?
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August 4th, 2009
About F***ing Time.
This guy ripped off other peoples ideas and was charging through the roof for them.
August 4th, 2009
what’s with the stupid terrorist comment? are you guys really that stupid?
August 4th, 2009
Looks lie apple bashing is in season.
When Apple is slow in approving apps, you guys complained and now they are removing useless apps with stolen codes, you guys complained. It is their store and they are trying to get developers to be responsible and some up with better apps is the way I am seeing it.
Guys words are cheap and easy to sit behind a keyboard amd whine. Get into the apps creation business and see whether you guys can do better. Anyway it is time to stop reading this kind of trash blog.
August 4th, 2009
It’s because this guy has the same name as the guy charged with masterminding the 9/11 attacks. How far IS your head under that rock? And then you have the audacity to accuse someone else of being, um, not smart?
August 4th, 2009
Perfect Acumen, indeed.
August 5th, 2009
Ah yes, federal regulation for how retailers choose which products to sell. That’s CERTAINLY what everyone needs. We can have the same people who watched over the US banking system do the job . . .