Apparently, Steve Jobs has taken his App Store despotism to new heights.
In sending rejection letters to developers applying for a spot on the virtual shelves of the iPhone App Store, Jobs is now including a caps-happy warning designed to prevent them from discussing the letter with anyone else on the planet. At least, that's the word from Macrumors.com
"THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS MESSAGE IS UNDER NON-DISCLOSURE," reads the alleged header on recent rejection letters.
Apple already imposes a "F&*king NDA" on Jesus Phone developers that prevents them from sharing programming tips with one another. It's unclear whether this includes the rejection letter non-disclosure as well. But at the very least, Apple is stepping up enforcement.
In early August, Apple famously yanked a $1000 App Store app that displayed a few red pixels. And as it continued to censor apps it didn't like, developers began broadcasting their rejection letters.
Early this month, developer Alex Sokirynsky made headlines when he told the world that Apple had barred his Podcaster app from the App Store because it "duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes." And just this week, Sokirynsky announced that Apple has even prevented him from distributing the app on his own.
"All I wanted was for someone from Apple to contact me and tell me how we can work it out so that I get into the App Store. Instead, Apple took the cowards way out by simply disabling features in my developers portal. This seems like a childish move for a company that has been proving such high quality service and products in the past," reads a blog post Sokirynsky has since yanked from the web without explanation.
In the post, Sokirynsky vowed to take his app to Google's fledgling Android Market, a place free of Jobsian despotism. Or so Google says.
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