Google Files Cease and Desist Over Android "Hacks"

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: September 24, 2009 10:53:50 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Google Files Cease and Desist Over Android "Hacks"



             Google Files Cease and Desist Over Android "Hacks"

               http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000617.html


Greetings.  If you don't follow the world of Google's Android OS, you
might not realize that a tremendous amount of work related to Android
is being accomplished by independent coders who customize, extend, and
otherwise do great things with Google Android phones such as the HTC
G1 and myTouch.  By basing frequent (sometimes even daily) system
updates on the open Android code repository, these unpaid enthusiasts
have been supplying new Android features way in advance of official
releases, and in the process are helping Android to move rapidly into
the mainstream of smartphones.

While Google has done the community a great service by open-sourcing
most of Android, I find it distressing to learn that perhaps the most
prolific of the independent Android phone "ROM" creators (with over
30K active users) -- who goes by the handle of "Cyanogen"
( http://bit.ly/eZwgj ) -- has reportedly just been served with a
"cease and desist" order by Google ( http://bit.ly/6xvGm ).

I myself run a Cyanogen ROM on my G1.  It's fantastic stuff.  Cyanogen
provides an array of useful functionalities not yet in official
Android releases -- some of these enhancements may never be in
official Android releases.  Yet Cyanogen's ROMs don't cheat T-Mobile
out of phone call revenue, won't steal gold bullion from Fort Knox,
nor will they even increase global warming.  These ROMs are the result
of much hard work done for free by a single individual, simply for the
benefit of the Android user community.

Google's dispute with Cyanogen appears not to revolve around the
mostly open-source portions of Android, but rather relate to the fact
that he is bundling into his releases a number of the very important
closed-source Android maps, like Market, Talk, Gmail, and YouTube.

Cyanogen's argument is that he's only distributing those closed-source
application executables into environments that are, essentially by
definition, already licensed to run them, even if Cyanogen himself is
not specifically licensed to be the distributor of those apps.

While I'm not a lawyer, I can understand Google's formal concerns from
a lawyer's point of view.  On the other hand, given the overall
situation, such a stance seems not to be of the high "Googley" caliber
that I would normally expect from Google.

I hope, and I urge, that Google and Cyanogen reach an understanding
that will allow Cyanogen's Android work to continue and to include the
key applications under discussion.  Anything less could easily be a
significant setback for the "bleeding edge" of Android development
that may be crucial in the long run for Android's success.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () vortex com
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
  - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, NNSquad
  - Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org
Founder, GCTIP - Global Coalition
  for Transparent Internet Performance - http://www.gctip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com




-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com