Apple rejects Bittorrent control app from App Store because it might be used to infringe copyrights

Sigh. Just as we thought Apple's ridiculous App Store approval process was about to get better with the advent of parental controls in iPhone OS 3.0, it goes and pulls another boneheaded move that makes us wonder if the entire system isn't hopelessly broken forever. This time the company's rejected Maza's Drivetrain, an app that allows users to remotely control the Transmission Bittorrent app, because "this category of applications is often used for the purpose of infringing third party rights." Right, "this category of applications," apparently meaning any app that has anything to do with Bittorrent at all -- Drivetrain doesn't actually upload or download anything, it's just used to manage Transmission running on your desktop. That's an awfully paranoid and restrictive stance towards one of the most popular file-transfer protocols around, especially since there are millions of legit torrents available, but somehow we're just not surprised -- this type of foolish, petty, and capricious behavior from Apple has sadly become par for the course with the App Store.

[Via iLounge]

[hexydes @ May 11th 2009 12:08PM]

But seriously, Microsoft is the evil one.

[ZZMitch @ May 11th 2009 12:15PM]

I don't think you can classify any body in the computing business as "evil"

[ryan.thompson @ May 11th 2009 12:50PM]

Apple is just as evil as Microsoft, it's just sexier. I frequently over-tip the waitress at my local pub because she shamelessly flirts with me. She's evil, but she's sexy, so I don't mind getting screwed so badly...

[Wwhat @ May 11th 2009 12:52PM]

Except spellcheckers that separate words when you type 'anybody' maybe?

You should only use 'any body'when you are < fill in famous female trashy star >

[Matt @ May 12th 2009 4:16PM]

Ryan,

It sounds like you're screwing yourself.

[wtf @ May 11th 2009 1:08PM]

Actually, ignorant people like you are evil. Apple is the one filtering the apps that get approved. This is soo anti-competitive with their closed app market. I cannot wait until the EU goes after them. It might be a few years, but it will happen. Microsoft has always supported developers to the utmost degree, they are not nearly as controlling as apple is. You have NO idea what you are talking about, but this is the interwebs, so no one will realize... keep posting

[bdav @ May 11th 2009 1:10PM]

@ryan

Apples into BDSM?

[DR House @ May 11th 2009 2:03PM]

Who gonna buy Songs from itunes when they can just torrent it in there iphone/ipod touch?

And shut up you liars who pretend to buy music everybody knows that you properly buy only 10% of what you hear on your laptop
So apple did the right thing unless you want my business to die (I work on the music industry)

[raymond causwell @ May 11th 2009 2:17PM]

Pleasecthis app in the jailbrake store

[ash @ May 11th 2009 2:11PM]

@ DR House
Read the article again to find the text below:

Right, "this category of applications," apparently meaning any app that has anything to do with Bittorrent at all -- Drivetrain doesn't actually upload or download anything, it's just used to manage Transmission running on your desktop.

[apolloa @ May 11th 2009 2:21PM]

@wtf,

I'm afraid not buddy. The European courts have already gone after Apple and it's iTunes pricing police, Apple agreed to reduce it's prices as they charge the exact same in Europe as in the US in numbers, I.E. 99 cents in the US, 99 pence in the UK so obviously ignoring the value of cents to the pound.
Anyway, Apple said yes, left the court, thought about it, then they stuck the middle finger up at the European court U turned and said they would NEVER change their pricing policy in Europe so we just continue to get screwed.
And was any action taken? No, none as far as I know so don't expect Apple to be in court anytime soon in Europe for it's app store policy's anytime soon.

[Nicholas @ May 11th 2009 2:31PM]

Yo DR,

I am making applications for the music business. They won’t let us embed songs, because they feel that it confuses iTunes users. The music industry needs new models, and it is nice that labels are actually able to make a living on the iTMS. That does not make everybody feel better after their applications get rejected to further Apple’s self interest.

Apple will have to do something to regain trust. People are quite unhappy about all of the silly control issues.

[Craig @ May 11th 2009 3:04PM]

@apolloa
I think you may be misremembering... The EU told Apple that they had to have the same pricing structure in all EU countries. No action was taken because shortly after that ruling, the economy started to collapse and 99 euro-cents became equal to 79 pence, so they didn't need to change anything.
If they had "stuck their middle finger up" at the court they wouldn't be trading anywhere in Europe.

[Jaytee @ May 11th 2009 3:37PM]

I'm afraid I'm going to have to partially agree with DR House above. His wording is poor, but he makes the point of why apple is doing this. Apple is controlling this app. for what I believe are purely business reasons that the company believes will affect is bottom line. This article makes it sound as if apple is rejecting this app on moral reasons that piracy is bad and that it Apple's behavior is "foolish" and "capricious".

Apple's behavior is anything but capricious. While I may not agree with what they are doing, they are trying to make sure that you use their content delivery system (iTunes) to make your purchases of music and other media. They do not want you to have access to any other delivery methods, and they will cut off that access in any way they can. Although their statement makes it sound as if they are doing this on the moral grounds of third party rights, this is really about controlling you and doing everything possible to ensure that you purchase your music through them, and they will shut down any tool on their system that could even POSSIBLY be used to obtain content through another means.

Again, I don't necessarily agree with their view, but let's first be clear on why they are doing this -- control.

[Christopher Howell @ May 11th 2009 3:59PM]

NewsFlash: Apple Discontinues sales of all iPods and iPhones beacuse they may be used to listen to infringed material.

[whoster69 @ May 11th 2009 11:36PM]

Wake up. Apple is giving Micro$oft a serious run for the money when it comes to being evil.

[iphonerulez @ May 12th 2009 12:23AM]

Who'd waste bandwidth downloading legal torrents. Only the pirated illegal stuff makes it all worth the while. Apple is right to reject the app since Transmission can be controlled through a browser window. That's one less useless app in the App Store. Makes room for more fart apps.

[Marko @ May 12th 2009 4:06AM]

Yes, but transmission already has a very nice web interface that you can access from safari and link onto your home screen anyway if you want to, so this is a completely pointless effort! Only bad PR

[moldymac @ May 11th 2009 12:08PM]

Someone at apple is being a dick again!

[Joshua @ May 11th 2009 12:44PM]

Apple is evil. It's for lemmings, and it's building an army of dolts. When are people going to realize that you're paying more for garbage?

[American @ May 11th 2009 12:52PM]

^Microsoft fanboi douchebag

[Dillinger @ May 11th 2009 12:56PM]

@joshua you know nothing about computers, please for the love of god SHUT UP.

[XGM @ May 11th 2009 1:05PM]

Again ? Every time something on my MBP screwed up they were being dicks...

[NorCalAngler @ May 11th 2009 1:21PM]

This is a no-brainer for Apple. The cost to simply defend a file sharing lawsuit (or take the time to get a frivolous lawsuit dismissed) far exceeds any profit they will see from this application or any others like it at this point in time. Now, if BitTorrent becomes THE method to transfer files of all types and Apple can sell millions of similar apps then they may change their mind.

[fanman @ May 11th 2009 1:29PM]

Lets ban safari aswell then?

[Jon Doe. @ May 11th 2009 3:07PM]

Yah again....because there were periods in between where Apple wasn't being a dick....not. The difference between now and all those other times is that its much more in the open. If you think Apple wasn't being a dick to their partners, to their developers, and pretty much anyone who did business with them in the past I have an island called Atlantis to sell you.

[xconan @ May 12th 2009 12:34AM]

@American
Joshua never even mentioned anything relating to Microsoft. He could have been a Fedora, Unbuntu, FreeBSD, or any of the linux distributions, Android, r SkyOS, etc... So where did you get your assumption from... Talk about jumping to conclusions or stereotyping anyone who's not a believer of the Jobs...

[American @ May 12th 2009 9:25AM]

Talk about jumping to conclusions or stereotyping anyone who's not a believer of the Jobs...

what about stereotyping all mac users are lemmings, dolts and macs are garbage? whats worst than fanboism is people hating a company just for the sake of it. im not going to argue with nerds anymore.

[B3astofthe3ast @ May 11th 2009 12:08PM]

There's a similar app on the Android marketplace that hasn't been removed.

[LondonConsultant @ May 11th 2009 12:15PM]

If Apple App Store is the problem, then Android Market is the solution. Perhaps Apple will ban text messaging from the iPhone because terrorists could use that to communicate...

[msalivar @ May 11th 2009 12:32PM]

And it's phone ability, because that can be used to remote detonate a bomb.

[paul @ May 11th 2009 12:58PM]

Yeah, it's called ConnectBot. You can easily use it to SSH to your home machine and view/control your rtorrent downloads. I'd imagine if there's an SSH client for the iPhone you can do the exact same thing. You don't need Transmission at all do accomplish this, just Bash, rTorrent, and SSH.

Take THAT Apple.

[vvnraman @ May 11th 2009 1:23PM]

There is an BitTorrent client for Symbian OS. It can download multiple torrent files at a time. Nokia isn't bickering about it like Apple.

http://amorg.aut.bme.hu/projects/symtorrent

Perhaps that the reason why Nokia and Samsung include GBs of storage on their mobiles.

[trevor @ May 11th 2009 1:35PM]

he's right. just went to market->all apps->by date-> scrolled like twice and bam. "Torrent-fu".

[Nicholas @ May 11th 2009 2:36PM]

I am developing music products for the iPhone, and am beginning to be involved with the Android groups so that we can seriously consider moving the technology. We could actually do things on the platform that Apple will not allow, but will make a better experience for the user.

Apple will ultimately suffer from this behavior. As with Sony, people will recognize a power play for what it is, and begin to make Android increasingly viable,

[FragShack @ May 11th 2009 2:47PM]

@LondonConsultant...
cute but terrorists don't have a powerful lobby in Washington.

[Ollie @ May 11th 2009 4:43PM]

Actually, the iPhone has an app just like this...
Transmission has a remote option built in. Just use safari to access the web interface, and you have control over your torrents.

[TRS @ May 11th 2009 12:09PM]

i love apple but thank god i dont have an iphone. ipod classic + blackberry is where its at. apple used to make all these wonderful exclusive products, but now, thanks to their commercialization and popularity, everything seems to be going downhill...including steve jobs himself. apple's really gona have to rethink their strategies

[b @ May 11th 2009 12:13PM]

You telling me your Blackberry can do this?

Don't get me wrong, I love my Blackberry - but it has nowhere near the 25,000 apps that the Apple App Store has....

[Gnormie @ May 11th 2009 12:18PM]

It doesn't have as many, but it does have almost all of the most popular iPhone applications that the majority of people use.

[TRS @ May 11th 2009 12:21PM]

and the iphone doesnt even have the 80 gigs of storage needed to play all my music. 32 gigs aint enuff.
i can haz roomba?

[John @ May 11th 2009 12:23PM]

If you wrote a program to do this on a blackberry they couldn't block it. (Sure they might not approve it to be part of their appstore) But my favorite blackberry feature is the fact that it's open without having to jail break it or pay for a developers license.

I downloaded a dice rolling simulator this morning that also has the ability to use 'dirty dice', no way would that ever be approved for use on the iPhone.

[b @ May 11th 2009 12:30PM]

I agree the development platform on the Blackberry is more open and without restrictions (except App World).

SO - why aren't there more applications for Blackberry?

[d889 @ May 11th 2009 2:21PM]

@b

maybe blackberry users arent stupid enough to download utter garbage such as fart apps and light saber shit?

[Lundmark @ May 11th 2009 12:09PM]

I don't like the AppStore policies, but seriously, BT is only used for warez.

[Brian @ May 11th 2009 12:11PM]

Do you have a Mac?

Most game demos for Mac are shared with BitTorrent.

[Britboyj27 @ May 11th 2009 12:56PM]

Seriously, the amount of legitimate file-sharing on any given torrent provider/tracker/service is miniscule compared to the amount of piracy that's going on. Do I agree with the anti-piracy measures by the RIAA and MPAA? No, but should Apple piss off content providers (who they work with on iTunes stuff) by letting you control your MASSIVE BT downloads while you're not at home? No.

Sensible move on Apple's part and a good point. Anyone who thinks otherwise can't see the forest for the trees.

[matt @ May 11th 2009 12:16PM]

Ubuntu's release stats say otherwise.

[Gnormie @ May 11th 2009 12:17PM]

On top of that almost every linux distro is shared via P2P, including very popular free software such as OpenOffice and many other things that people want to distribute without the costs of going through the more 'mainstream' channels, hell now even artists are releasing music for free on bit torrent sites to get attention/ticket sales so although while a large proportion is copyright infringement there's a LOT out there that's for legitimate use.

[pmow @ May 11th 2009 12:29PM]

Brian was referring to Mac demos, not linux. Nobody said Mac demo downloads > Ubuntu downloads.