Apple Splits Hairs, Insults Our Intelligence
So Apple appears to have tweaked section 3.3.2 of their draconian iOS license agreement to distinguish between “non-compiled code” and “meta-platforms” — the former being acceptable, the latter naughty. Flash CS5 is still forbidden, but games built on libraries that use interpreted languages are ok — or might be ok, if Apple deigns to give its consent.
This is in addition to some recent hairsplitting regarding who can and can’t advertise on their platform — the blanket ban has been lifted, but only if you’re an “independent advertising service provider whose primary business is serving mobile ads”. Which is to say, if you’re owned by a company whose name is not Google.
From the beginning, it’s been pretty clear that these “general” policies were just thinly veiled maneuvers to eject Adobe and Google from the iOS ecosystem. But now, as Apple hones their license agreement to alleviate some its unintended consequences, the veil is becoming increasingly, diaphanously, scandalously thin.
Apple and its apologists will tell you that this is just business. Capitalism is tough, man. And, besides, Google started it! But if these kinds of exclusionary policies are really ok, then why not just come out and ban Flash CS5 and AdMob, and whoever else you find threatening? Why go to all this trouble building papier-mâché frameworks around your real intentions?
The question answers itself. Apple is playing a painfully obvious game of cat and mouse here, both with their public image and — more importantly — with the various regulatory agencies whose ears are beginning to prick up. Apple now has the second-largest market cap of any company in the US. They might have been able to fly under the radar with this kind of bullshit in the bad old days. But those days are over.
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