Apple Removes NDA from Developers

Apple has announced this week that all developers are freed from their Non-Disclosure Agreement, or NDA. This widely-criticized agreement forced developers to both not discuss their relationship with Apple, but also the technical aspects of iPhone software development.

The NDA, according to Apple, was meant to be an added layer of protection against intellectual property theft. Apple says that they did not intend for the NDA to prevent discussion and collaboration on the level that it has. According to the notice on the iPhone Developer Web Site: “… 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 will receive a new agreement without an NDA covering released software within a week or so.”

Unfortunately, this does nothing to affect Apple’s most anti-competitive business practices in regards to the App Store. It does, however, allow developers to openly discuss the reasons for why they are prevented from selling their applications. Apple continues to retain the right, in their opinion, to block applications from release without prior notice, after months (if not years) of development.