The Silly End Result Of DRM: Google Android Developers Barred From Running Paid Apps
from the over-protecting dept
It's really amazing how the use of DRM makes companies do stupid things. They get so focused on "protecting" they don't realize how all that protection hurts them. It happens over and over again. The latest such example is that developers for Google's Android mobile OS are discovering they can't access paid apps in the Android Market. Why? Because Google is afraid that developers, with greater levels of access, will be able to "break" the DRM and create unauthorized copies. Of course, people will figure out how to break the DRM and make unauthorized copies anyway. So all Google has really done is (a) piss off a lot of developers (b) shrink the market for paid apps (c) make it that much more difficult for developers to get, create and test such paid apps. In all this focus on protecting, Google seems to have missed out on the fact that it's more important to be creating and building than protecting.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: android, developers, drm
Companies: google
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Let's clarify...
Think about it - if Apple sold unlocked iPhones for "developers" (cheaper than the ATT iPhone) but let you do everything that the original did, you think ATT would be happy?
The G1-Dev is supposed to be a piece of developer hardware, not a fully functional tool. There's all kinds of stuff you can do on it (like access the root directly) that you can't do on the shipped version.
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Re: Let's clarify...
I am an Android developer who owns a G1-developer phone. These are fully functional units. We paid full price for them (actually we paid $25 extra because we had to pay a joining fee). There is a simulator that obviously is not a functional unit. The Developer phones were put out in part because developers NEED a fully functional unit if they are going to do any serious testing.
We also had a problem with the upgrade. This is because Google didn't put out a properly signed copy for developers. The developers themselves fixed the problem, sort of.
I am more inclined to think this is growing pains from a new business unit starting up. A lot of decisions seem to be getting made without being thoroughly thought through. I would not be surprised to see Google reverse this decision sometime soon. It is one of those things that probably sounded reasonable when they had a meeting on it, but the decision just does not hold up to scrutiny on so many levels.
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Re: Let's clarify...
It is not that it is unlocked. It is that the dev-G1 allows access to the protected storage that paid apps are stored in, thus being able to copy them and distribute them.
Also, the Android Marketplace allows for uninstalls/refunds within 24 hours. So, with a dev-G1, one could conceivably purchase, copy, uninstall to get the refund and then restore the program.
There is no restrictions on the use of the G1 in an unlocked state. The Marketplace is run by Google, not Tmobile. Tmobile will supply the unlock codes if you have had the G1 for more than 6 months.
Getting it 100% functional on a different network is another story entirely. I have an unlocked G1 (not a dev phone) and have it on AT7T. All is working excep 3G and MMS. AT&T uses a non-standard 3G frequency. As to the MMS, not sure why that is not working.
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Re: Let's clarify...
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Re: Re: Let's clarify...
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Re: Re: Re: Let's clarify...
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You think Google is experiencing "growing pains" NOW?
Please. This is a screwup that could have been predicted by anyone who realizes that DRM just means "defective by design".
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LOL
Smooth move, Google.
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Re: Let's clarify...
I can tell you this from experience, I used root access to enable multi-touch on my G1.
Feel free to google it (sic)
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My point was that they were limiting the hardware side - developers who own standard G1s do not have any such difficulties. So they're not limiting Developers, they're limiting Developer Handsets.
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Most of the Rooted phones are not held by developers
I know threee other developers, and none of us have gotten root access. Basically, we don't need it to do what we do, and we prefer to have phones that are as close to normal retail phones as possible. There are a lot more retail phones out there than developer phones, so it is safe to assume that most of the root'd phones are in the hands of non developers. That makes it all the more stupid that Google has chosen to lock out the developers.
I would have thought that Google would have learned from Apple that making your development community angry is a really bad idea. Apparently Google is going to have to learn that lesson for themselves. It's too bad.
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Sooooo...
Good luck to marketing with that one.
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Re: Sooooo...
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Re: Re: Let's clarify...
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Sob
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Need a New Motto
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Re: Sob
No reason to have a Dev-G1 unless you are a dev. Then, ask yourself, is it necessary to have those paid apps on the handset?
As it is, a lot of the apps have free alternatives.
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Re: Sob
Jeff rationalized:
Sounds like exactly the same sort of thing you hear from the Apple apologists.
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Re: Re: Sob
Apple does not offer an unlocked iPhone for developers. As such, the only way to do that level of development on another network is to jailbreak it.
As such, comparing Google to Apple is like comparing apples to oranges.
If they were to do this exclusion to unlocked, non-Dev-G1 phones, then it would be the same.
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lida
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dj
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