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Android Modder Tries To Outmaneuver Google

Posted by timothy on from the only-a-link-to-a-url dept.

itwbennett writes "Google recently sent a cease-and-desist letter to Steve Kondik, the creator of Cyanogen, a popular souped-up version of Android, asking him to stop distributing applications such as Gmail with his modified software. 'We make some of these apps available to users of any Android-powered device via Android Market, and others are pre-installed on some phones through business deals,' wrote Dan Morrill on the Android developer blog. 'Either way, these apps aren't open source, and that's why they aren't included in the Android source code repository.' Now, Kondik thinks he's found a workaround. He plans to release a 'bare bones' version of Cyanogen without the applications, leaving it to modders to make a backup copy of the Google applications that shipped with their phone for later reinstallation before hacking away at the Android software. 'The idea is that you'll be able to Google-ify your CyanogenMod installation with the applications and files that shipped on your device already,' Kondik wrote."

2 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. Not outmaneuvering by ddrueding80 · · Score: 5, Informative

    It isn't outmaneuvering, I'm sure this is what Google had in mind. No licenses being broken, and a strong modder community.

  2. Re:Interesting by lenehey · · Score: 5, Informative

    Intellectual Property:

    Function: noun
    : property that derives from the work of the mind or intellect (as an idea, invention, trade secret, process, program, data, formula, patent, copyright, or trademark) ; also : an application, right, or registration relating to this "

    --Merriam Webster.

    To help you out even further, the word "property" means, "2 a : something that is or may be owned or possessed : WEALTH, GOODS; specifically : a piece of real estate b : the exclusive right to possess, enjoy, and dispose of a thing : a valuable right or interest primarily a source or element of wealth : OWNERSHIP c : something to which a person has a legal title : an estate in tangible assets (as lands, goods, money) or intangible rights (as copyrights, patents) in which or to which a person has a right protected by law"

    --Merriam Webster

    Are you still confused?