Following much consternation on the part of the iPhone application development community, Apple will be dropping its non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for already released iPhone software.
The NDA, referred to by many in the iPhone coding community as the “F*cking NDA,” banned developers from discussing code, programming, and otherwise talking about their software and apps for the product. While preventing them from discussing their projects specifically, the NDA didn’t stop developers from sounding off on the matter.
In a statement on its Developer Connection site, Apple recently announced the decision to drop a portion of the NDA, thanking those who provided “constructive feedback” on the issue. The company put the agreement in place to protect innovations from being stolen, it says, and the NDA added another level of protection.
“We put it in place as one more way to help protect the iPhone from being ripped off by others,” the statement reads. “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 are expected to be receiving a new agreement without the restrictions on released software within the week. However, the shackles are still on regarding unreleased software and iPhone features until the products officially launch.
