Apple revises iPhone NDA

Posted on 2 Oct 2008 at 09:01

Apple has abandoned the controversial non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that prevented developers discussing released iPhone and iPod touch software.

In a statement on its website the company explains that the NDA has put too much of a burden on anyone involved in creating software for its mobile devices, and explained why it felt that the agreement was initially necessary.

“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.”

Developers will soon receive a new NDA, though some restrictions will remain: unreleased software and features will remain under NDA until they are released.

Nonetheless, the change means that developers can share code and discuss the software on forums and mailing lists, authors can write books on software development, and conferences, such as the forthcoming iPhoneLive, will be free to discuss the contents of Apple’s software development kit (SDK). That should make for even better iPhone and iPod touch applications.

The statement makes no mention of the NDA that forbids developers from revealing software that Apple has rejected for inclusion in the App Store.

Author: Simon Aughton

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