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Apple allows bullies to shut down my app

27 points by tinebak ↗ HN
After having my app in the App Store for years, Apple took it down because of a couple of false complaints. Apple hasn't said that the app breaks any rules, just that all complaints must be resolved "to the satisfaction of the complainant."

It's insane that Apple gives this kind of power to a few people. I don't think Apple has even really read the complaints or looked into the app at all.

I have written an open letter to Tim Cook www.copymethat.com/open-letter-tim-cook/ that explains everything as well as a tweet twitter.com/copymethat/status/1295418273065046016/.

I'd love the support of app developers who think this is not OK behavior from Apple. Please reply to the tweet.

18 comments

[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 55.6 ms ] thread
caddie
yep, i had a game that used the word "flow" in it. Some nefarious company trademarked the word "flow" for video games and started sending take down notices to all games that had the word "flow" in it. I just removed the app cause it's not worth the fight, but boy, there is no justice in the app stores, they apply the law of the jungle, the strongest wins and when it's getting out of control the "silverback Apple God Ape" comes to have his last word.
uberman
Summary of issue:

App in question partially designed to scrape recipes from the web.

App dev believes that their app does not violate DCMA and that other apps allow saving of web content locally.

Two sites feel that this violates their copyrights and have complained to Apple (not sure if DCMA is part of the complaint or not).

Apple has removed app until complaints are resolved. Complainants demand money to remove their complaint (one wants $10k).

tinebak
I also think it's worth noting that the content that they're complaining about is saved to private accounts. DropBox (Google Drive, etc., etc.) isn't responsible for stuff you save to your private accounts. Also, Apple hasn't said that the app violates any rules or laws. They just want the complaints resolved, whatever they may be.
swiley
Glad to hear apple is protecting the iPhone users from malware like this.
tinebak
I'm curious why you call it malware? You can visit a website, find a recipe you like, click a button, and the recipe gets copied to you recipe box. It's like Evernote, but is specific for recipes. Then you can edit the recipe, create meal plans, etc.
swiley
I didn't think that needed a /s
tommymachine
Isn’t it DMCA for “Digital Millenium Copyright Act” (not DCMA)?
uberman
oops you are of course correct :-) DCMA is an acronym I used to need to use a lot. Must be muscle memory kicking in.
retox
>partially designed to scrape recipes from the web

How is this different from the issue that was discussed recently where Google were scraping CelebrityNetWorth data?

uberman
I don't really know or have an opinion on that or this really.

I read it and gave a brief summary of the article so others might know if it was something they were interested in.

I did so as the title of the post did not really say anything about what a reader might find if they clicked on it.

tinebak
Copy Me That only scrapes a recipe when the user clicks the share button on a wepage, like Evernote. It's not a crwler.
mikece
Is suing Ms. Selkowitz and Ms. Merritt an option? Sounds like they have formed a conspiracy to inhibit interstate commerce to me (then again, IANAL...).

Apple definitely leans more to covering their own backsides from liability than defending app developer whenever someone claims a copyright issue, even if it's not a valid assertion.

tinebak
I have sued Jill Selkowitch. My lawyer says that it will cost $40K, at least, and take more than 6 months before it gets before a judge. Jill Selkowitch has now filed to get the case dismissed trying to argue (for real) that there is no conflict for a judge to rule on. So now I have to pay to respond to that. I also can't keep suing anyone who files a complaint. Apple allowing this is the real problem.
nojito
If you are ripping more than the measurements in the recipe page, you are stealing their work.

Look into how other recipe apps work and you'll understand.

tinebak
Paprika works exactly the same, as does Evernote and Pocket. Apple has not by the way, complained about copyright infringement.
bluelu
If your app would scrape videos from netflix, disney+, etc... and save them locally, how would that be different from what you are doing now?

You would be blocked as well.

tinebak
The app wasn't blocked for copyright infringement. Apple hasn't asked for any changes. Evernote isn't blocked, or Pocket. You're talking about something different.
TammyBrown
I think the difference is your "community" public wall, where you publish the user-scrapped recipes, saved on your own server. Neither Paprika, nor Evernote or Pocket does that.

If someone publishes a third party content on a public wall (like Pinterest, for example) - then the don't copy it to their own servers, they use only the links, which lead to the original webpage.