EFF has issue with Apple's Developer agreement, offers new app for Android

The Electronics Frontier Federation (EFF) is a non-profit organization that helps defend members' digital rights. The EFF just released a new app for Android users today, that allows them to more easily "take action" against those who would like nothing better than to trample on others' digital rights. The EFF does have a bone to pick with Apple, however, and has decided against producing an app for the App Store.

The issue that the EFF has with Apple revolves around the latter's Developer Agreement. The non-profit group calls the agreement "outrageous" and "bad for developers and users alike." EFF is not happy with some of Apple's restrictive rules, such as the one that prohibits apps using Apple's SDK from being used in other app stores besides Apple's.

The EFF is also unhappy with Apple's kill switch, which allows it to put down an app at any time. Apple claims it needs to be able to stop an app that might have accidentally slipped into the App Store, filled with malware. As Steve Jobs once said about the kill switch, "Hopefully we never have to pull that lever, but we would be irresponsible not to have a lever like that to pull." The EFF is also unhappy with Apple's ban on jailbreaking, and the ban on making public comments about the Developer agreement.

With the launch of its Android app, the EFF is also seeking to have a petition signed that asks Apple to revise the terms of the contract it makes iOS Developers sign in relation to the App Store. As EFF says in the petition,"Developers shouldn’t have to give up their rights to make an iPhone app. App makers should demand better terms, and the customers who love their iPhones should back them."

Android users can download the EFF app for free, directly from the Google Play Store. The app allows you to get in touch with Congress to ask for better technology laws, tweet the White House to get in your two cents about certain policies, and take international action to help stick up for certain digital rights in the U.S. You can also decide to help EFF spread the word about a campaign it is running, like the petition it wants signed about Apple's Developer Agreement.


source: EFFAlerts via TechCrunch