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Apple Drops Part of iPhone Developer NDA
ds writes "Apple, this morning, announced they are dropping the iPhone Developer NDA in respect to released software. Previously, iPhone developers were legally bound even after their software had been released."
Another reader adds, "Early release software is still covered, but this should bring about increased developer interaction, as well as a slew of iPhone dev books." The complete message about the NDA change can be seen for now at Apple's iPhone Developer site, and is reproduced below.
"We have decided to drop the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for released iPhone software.
We put the NDA in place because the iPhone OS includes many Apple inventions and innovations that we would like to protect, so that others don't steal our work. It has happened before. 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. Developers will receive a new agreement without an NDA covering released software within a week or so. Please note that unreleased software and features will remain under NDA until they are released.
Thanks to everyone who provided us constructive feedback on this matter."
I've been thinking about this for a while, but I think I understand why the majority of the American people are against the current bailout package, and why ultimately all bailouts (whether for banks, mortgage holders, or taxpayers in general) will fail.
The root of the problem is not economic but sociological in nature. No amount of economic carrots will fix the problem, despite the fact they may delay the crash or draw it out into a painstakingly long-term affair. Despite the fact that corporate productivity continues to increase, individual productivity has dropped off as people have become depressed with their jobs, which seem to absorb ever increasing amounts of their time and effort.
Americans have become disillusioned with going after material at the expense of building relationships. People are addicted to their jobs and have delayed finding a partner of the opposite sex, getting married, and having children. Their job brings them immediate stability and shiny things; however, they know their long-term stability is at risk.
I think a majority of the population would appreciate a breather from the corporate world, and if there are large swaths of people in the same position, that gives them ample chance to meet with other people who have plenty of spare time in order to build relationships that cannot be built barhopping on Friday nights.
Maybe I'm projecting my thoughts on the populace at large, but I know very few people my age (~30 years old) who have started building a family, and that's quite frankly distressing. The economy isn't everything. The crash will happen. We will survive. Let it happen swiftly and let the recovery happen in the near term.