Programming for Apple is fun. The tools are great and it is really satisfying to see how an application slowly takes shape and is finally finished. There is only one thing that is a bit disturbing. It’s not so much programming with Apple tools, but rather programming for Apple. Why? Because of the way that Apple defines their terms of use in their iPhone development agreement. The Electronic Frontier Foundationpublished the license agreement today and revealed how Apple is treating their developers who are just programming applications. What is most striking is that Apple forbids developers to make public statements about the license agreement. In other words: you sign a contract, and you are not allowed to talk about it. It somewhat resembles the deal with the devil from Goethe’s Faust. Similar to Faust – who gives away his soul to get his wishes fulfilled – developers give away their independence in favor of the realization of their wishes. Different from Faust, though, who is conscious of what he is doing when he says:

Werd’ ich zum Augenblicke sagen:
Verweile doch! du bist so schön!
Dann magst du mich in Fesseln schlagen,
Dann will ich gern zugrunde gehn!

developers usually don’t think about the fine prints in license agreements. Why? Because reading 30 or more pages of such agreements is not really that thrilling – at least for developers. After all, these agreements are written by lawyers and, as we know from the movies, they work for the devil :

So, what lessons can we developers learn from this? Maybe that we should be more careful when signing license agreements; or that we should actively support organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation whose aim is to defend civil rights (and the rights of developers).

Your ikangai team

Tags: Add new tag, Apple, Deal with the Devil, Faust, Goethe, License Agreement