Lodsys sues iOS developers over in-app payments, rebuffs Apple and thinks you should love it
Lodsys has responded to Apple’s legal slap by suing seven iOS developers. FOSS patents says the unlucky seven are Combay, Inc. (Mega Poker Online Texas Holdem), Iconfactory, Inc. (Twitterriffic), Illusion Labs AB (Labyrinth), Michael G. Karr (69 Positions), Quickoffice, Inc. (Quickoffice Connect), Richard Shinderman (Hearts and Daggers) and Wulven Games (Shadow Era). Again, Lodsys has responded on its blog, and I’m happy to provide translation.
In the May 15, 2011 blog posting, we clearly stated that we are attempting to license every App Developer that utilizes the functionality, regardless of size, and regardless of enabling technology, and that those licenses would be proportional.
This is why the guys we’ve chosen to sue are indies or, in many cases, sole traders, because we’re attempting to screw every app developer, regardless of size. We’ll be right on at the big devs next. Honest.
Rolling developers into belonging to the enabling platform (Apple’s developers or Android developers) and how they are under attack from a troll (rather than it being a rights holder attempts to get paid for its property and questioning the full scope and veracity of the platform provider’s promises, or that App Developers have choices of what functionality to put in their applications and which platforms to sell on)
It’s not trolling when you have a whiny blog! It’s not trolling when you wait until quite a long time after IAP has appeared to sue! It’s not trolling when you only go after small players and threaten their businesses! It’s not trolling when you make nothing yourself and are only in the business of buying up IP and figuring out who you can use it for to sue.
This story is about accountability for actions. If you are a Developer, it’s about knowledge about the scope and risks of your own business.
Dear developers: in future, make sure you check every aspect of everything you do against every patent that has ever existed, ever. Also: fuck you.
Lodsys has only one motivation: we want to get paid for our rights.
We like making money through suing people. Being constructive and creative is for dolts.
There is a more complicated set of motivations from the platform providers and the app developers concerning profit margins, control, ownership of the customer relationship, responsibility for liabilities, cloning, IP rights clearance, what is fair to expect a small developer to understand, who pays and who gets away without paying… all of which are much more intellectually interesting and worthy of analysis and commentary.
Please stop saying we’re evil. We just want to be loved.
While it is true that Apple and Lodsys have an obvious dispute about the scope of Apple’s license to the Lodsys Patents, we are willing to put our money where our mouth is and pay you something if we are wrong. Therefore, Lodsys offers to pay $1,000 to each entity to whom we have sent an infringement notice for infringement on the iOS platform, or that we send a notice to in the future, if it turns out that the scope of Apple’s existing license rights apply to fully license you with respect to our claim relating to your App on Apple iOS.
We’re not entirely sure we’re in the right here. Still, by offering a grand in cash if we screw up, we hope to make people think we’re lovely, and we’re also hoping they’ll all ignore the fact that a grand won’t cover even a fraction of anyone’s legal fees. Result!
Most successful Application Developers have chosen to develop their applications on more than one platform and sell them in more than one store (where they are contractually allowed to do so). The press and the blogs seem focused on the specific instances of small developers, who are only on Apple iOS, so those particular developers will be especially well served by our offer.
Or, maybe, we’re just delusional and really do believe our own bullshit. Who can tell?
For those Application Developers who are also providing their Apps on other platforms such as Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Symbian , Windows, Mac OS X, Facebook…etc., and/or on other app stores such as Android Market, Amazon, Ovi, Handango…etc…, then the economic responsibility still applies to those units in addition to the iOS units.
VIC-20 devs had better watch out too.
Please note that this offer only applies to the iOS portion of the licensing responsibility.
We’re more scared of Apple than Google right now.
If Apple’s contracts, or APIs, or actions cause damage to the Application Developer, then Apples total liability to the Application Developer is limited to a maximum of $50. So, Apple’s downside risk to fight this is $50 per developer and the Application Developer is expected to self-insure for everything remaining.
For some reason, we’ve never noticed that Apple can change its mind on a whim, so we’re sitting here, safe in the knowledge that Apple’s legal team won’t back its devs. Phew! There is no way in which this can go wrong at all.
What Apple marketing is selling, and, in this case, what Apple Legal really has to offer, are not aligned.
Also, Apple’s departments never talk to each other, so we’re totally safe here.
Apple marketing is selling you on the idea that they have what you need and it is yours and you are covered free and clear. Apple legal doesn’t have those rights to offer, and they absolve themselves of all responsibility in your agreement and they have offered you nothing, no license, no indemnification, no obligation to defend you, they offer nothing other than the $50 and no clear way to even get that.
And, luckily, there’s absolutely no way of Apple updating its terms, ever. Again: phew!
For many people, it is easier to call Lodsys and other rights holders names for trying to be compensated for their rights, within a system that is established and known, than it is to consider one’s own responsibility, or the promises and motivations of the platform provider.
We think it’s wrong that if you were, say, an indie band selling CDs through a massive record store, relying on their sales mechanism being legal, you should assume that’s where your responsibility ends. You should really be looking into all aspects of the law, including every patent that relates to your business, before you do anything at all. That is responsibility, sucker.
On May 22nd, Apple’s chief lawyer Bruce Sewell unequivocally announced that Apple’s license to the Lodsys patents gave Apple’s 3rd party developers complete and “undisputable” freedom to use the covered inventions without paying royalties or fearing lawsuits. There was a very positive reaction in the press and blogs. Apple appeared to give the Developer community what they wanted. Unfortunately for Developers, Apple’s claim of infallibility has no discernable basis in law or fact.
We’re going to kick Apple’s arse in court.
The letter was very surprising as Apple and Lodsys were in confidential discussions and there was clearly disagreement on the interpretation of the license terms of Apple’s agreement.
Even though we were pretty sure Apple wasn’t going to do anything.
Before, during and after these interactions, Lodsys has carefully considered this issue and consulted several legal experts to consider Apple’s claims.
Because, unlike Apple, we have the law on our side! And the law is never open to interpretation!
We stand firm and restate our previous position that it is the 3rd party Developers that are responsible for the infringement of Lodsys’ patents and they are responsible for securing the rights for their applications.
But, really, this isn’t about Apple. Let’s forget Apple.
Developers relying on Apple’s letter do so to their own detriment and are strongly urged to review Apple’s own developer agreements to determine the true extent of Apple’s responsibilities to them.
Really. Forget Apple. Apple who? No idea. Those devs, though, who can’t fight back, because they can’t afford an expensive court case? Remember them, because we’re going to screw them as much as possible, opening the floodgates for more idiots to do precisely the same. Luckily, because everyone’s forgotten Apple, there’s no-one there to defend the devs. Phew!
There really is nothing that can go wrong here for us.
RECAP: We’re picking on the little guys because we’re bullies after lunch money and we think we can get a lot of sweeties before we’re stopped. Who cares if we destroy lives and businessed while we’re at it – focus on the sweeties!
There is no smackdown too big for these guys and it can’t arrive too soon.
You can forget the idea that Apple is going to sit idly on the sidelines while their developers get hit with court case after court case. I think these guys ought to keep doing what they’re doing, because it will end up in a very entertaining read.
I’m not very optimistic about this. It might be OK for Apple and other big companies to play the long game, but small, independent developers can’t afford to. It might only take a few more Lodsys sprucing out for a quick buck for the damage to be irreversible. At worse a return to a ‘big players’ market, at best a heavily compartimentalised marketplace, where developers don’t dare release their apps outside their continent/region.
To me the main problem is that Apple/Google/Microsoft/etc want to have their cake and eat it, supporting the ridiculous software patent system while not wanting their platforms to be affected by it. You can’t accept a patent as ludicrous as that claimed by Lodsys (and even pay for it) and then tell the Texan magistrate with a straight face “The patent applies to me but not to them”.
The only way fully out of this will be political, either through lobbying or high profile campaigns to change the current law or the way it’s currently administered.
I look forward to a future blog declaring bankruptcy and decrying the country’s legal system.
It’s amazing how self-righteous these guys are.