iPad Pulse Reader app goes from keynote hero to App Store zero thanks to NYT (update -- it's back!)

Pulse News Reader -- a news aggregating app for the iPad -- got itself the ultimate stamp of approval yesterday by being featured in Steve Jobs' keynote speech. A few hours later, however, Apple had removed the application from its App Store, following a complaint by the New York Times that it was infringing on its rights. Although Pulse collates publicly available RSS feeds, the fact it costs $4 a pop is being interpreted as a "commercial use" of those feeds, and therefore a violation of the New York Times and Boston Globe's Terms of Use. Its makers have said they'll be getting in touch with Apple and stripping out the offending content, but it's certainly a head scratcher of a decision by the news company. We wonder if this signals the start of a crusade against all paid RSS readers or if Pulse has something peculiarly intolerable about it. Visit the source link to read the complaint in full.

Update: From what we're reading, it sounds like what the NYT is really complaining about is that its feeds are preloaded into Pulse, and that Pulse is using NYT content and images in its promotional materials, not that Pulse is a paid app. Seems like those are easy fixes -- we'll see what happens.

Update 2: And it's back! As we guessed, it looks like all Pulse had to do was resubmit without preloading the NYT's RSS feed and take some new screenshots of different sites, so that's just peachy. Still, it's insanely troublesome that Apple's first response is to just pull apps without verifying any claims or allowing devs to respond -- your store is still broken, Steve, no matter what percentage of apps you're approving.

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 8th 2010 4:34PM]

Why is Engadget assuming Apple didn't verify it? Obviously Pulse *does* include the NYT feeds and that seems to be against the NYT's usage guidelines. NYT could have sued the makers of Pulse and basically put them out of business with legal fees if they wanted to. Apple taking the app down for a few hours and getting the problem resolved is a far more diplomatic way of dealing with it.

[TomSawyer Posted Jun 8th 2010 4:37PM]

i guess the kindle is broken when they remotely delete books i paid for (that's a rhetorical "i" since i don't / won't own a kindle). At least Apple isn't remotely ripping apps off people's i-devices.

[Jack Posted Jun 8th 2010 4:41PM]

"Still, it's insanely troublesome that Apple's first response is to just pull apps without verifying any claims or allowing devs to respond -- your store is still broken, Steve"

That is a genuinely stupid thing to say. It's "insanely troublesome" that Apple immediately responds to a copyright claim by the NYT? Are you for real? Should Apple have simply let the infringement continue unabated? Your assumption that Apple didn't check the details before pulling it came directly out of your ass. Do you KNOW Apple didn't check first? Can you PROVE IT?

I don't know what is with your sudden irrational Apple hate but for somebody who is allegedly objective, it's pretty distasteful. This went from a legitimate story about the app to a full blown misguided anti-Apple rant by the last update.

Get back into the habit of fact checking and stop drinking the haterade. I'm not interested in reading your poorly thought out rants against Apple when it's not an opinion piece.

[Killing Time Posted Jun 8th 2010 4:53PM]

@Jack my thoughts too, its insanely troublesome engadget posted that not line not actually knowing the back and forth that was going on.

[evanchen Posted Jun 8th 2010 4:53PM]

With all the discussion, I'm reminded of the challenges with RSS: information overload, limited discovery of new sources, etc. If you've tried RSS readers and are still looking for a great way to get personalized news without having to manage a list of RSS subscriptions, I suggest checking out the free YourVersion iPhone app at http://bit.ly/yv-app. Our free iPad app should be available soon as well. You just tell YourVersion the topics you care about and it finds the latest, relevant news, blogs, tweets, etc. tailored to your interests.

[delicatessen lama Posted Jun 8th 2010 5:40PM]

Fair enough if they were pre-loading that publication's content into their app. Good thing Pulse removed it so their app can continue to do business.

[shoxite Posted Jun 8th 2010 6:02PM]

If Engadget had an iPad app this UI should be used. Consider it engadget. ;)

[brillow Posted Jun 8th 2010 7:37PM]

Could someone clarify, when Jobs said that 90%~ percent of apps get approved, did he mean on their first submission or eventually?

[Nicnac Posted Jun 9th 2010 10:56AM]

Vladislav... a shame Apple pulled the app before allowing devs to respond? Are you nuts? So what if the devs take 6 months to respond?

If Apple has left the app up, you would likely be complaining about that too. "Oh em gee... Apple condones stealing!"

[dhuge67 Posted Jun 30th 2010 5:38AM]

The store isn't broken. It's so dumb to say that it's "broken." It isn't perfect but it is far from being a crippled, messed up thing, that we can't access.

It may need to be able to be browsed more easily. It may need to be a bit more flexible in how it handles curation, but it is not "broken." Calling it broken is like calling soccer fun to watch. It just isn't.