Apple dumps iPhone developer NDA

Dropping agreement for released software

1 October 2008 16:57 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Apple has decided to dump the non-disclosure agreement it insisted developers sign before getting access to the iPhone platform.

This follows recent news and comment in the tech world that saw Apple draw criticism for a heavy-handed approach to privacy, even making sure reasons apps were rejected stayed schtum.

Apple has posted a notice on its "Developer Connection" site addressed "To Our Developers" that reads as follows:

"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."