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so after posting an excerpt of my letter to Dan Morrill, the author of the absolutely idiotic statement regarding what they're doing, i received several PMs asking me to post the whole thing. It's so long it wont fit in a single post, so read it all. if you dont want to read a wall of text, stop here and go to a new thread.
Mr. Morrill,
First, I would like to bid you a good day, as I'm sure this letter is going to effect it. Yes, that is a bold statement to make at the onset, but writings such as these have a way of eating their way into your psyche and leaving a lasting impression that could very well sour your appetite at lunch time.
Perhaps I should introduce myself. My name is XXXXXXXXXXXXX, and I am an amateur developer on the Android platform. I am also a user of many of the custom Android builds that have come out since the release of the source development kit, including the build made by Steve "Cyanogen" Kondik. Ah, yes, now you see what this letter is going to be about.
So lets start with the basics. Google is a multi-billion dollar corporation that released a supposedly open-source platform onto the mobile device market. Now, I say mobile device as opposed to mobile phone, simply because there are products being released, such as the Zii EGG, which do not support telecommuniations, yet are still running on the Android platform. Now, in any reasonable programmers mind, the reason for making a platform open source, regardless of what the Public Relations people spin it as, is to alleviate some of the burden on the actual in-house development teams. The source code created by thousands of bright minds is doubtless going to yield a much stonger end result than that of a small development squad. Its simple mathematics. Well, that point alongside the fact that the original linux developers made no secret of their intentions by open-sourcing their operating system, which paved the way for Android many many years later.
In addition to that, all of the applications included in the "stock", or unmodified and officially released Android, builds are free. Any user with internet access can use any of these functions through the internet, with the blessings of your employer, free of charge. Yet, somehow, this has caused a sort of hiccup between your supposed idea of free development and that of the general public. Now, before you warp your mind into "this guy doesnt know what he's talking about" mode, think about the principles that your company was founded upon. You wanted to beat out the corporate giants and look out for the little guy. Oh yes, I've done my homework on Google over the years. The benevolent company trying to provide free services for the masses that the "evil-empire" corporations would deny free access to. Ironically enough, this letter is being written to you on Google Docs, another of your free services. Quite troublesome, it would seem.
And now, lest I digress further, I'll shift to the meat of the topic. In your statement regarding the cease and desist letter to Mr. Kondik, you claim that the sales of your free software to be used on mobile platforms being provided to the end user by custom developers for free would hurt the bottom line. Perhaps you should re-examine your own words. Free software being given to the masses by developers whom you claim to encourage is huring your profit share because you cannot sell the use of it to large corporations. Pardon me if I fail to understand the rationale behind such a contradictory and obviously ridiculous statement. But just so that you can understand my position on the matter, lets look at a related position. Google produces an internet browser, Chrome. Mozilla, a competing franchise, produces Firefox, their own browser. Developers for firefox have created applications which borrow on Google's proprietary code to access the functionality of the various features and programs. Are these developers charged for being able to include such features? No. Are these developers caused to halt their activities through threats of legal action for providing end users access to the capabilities that Google readily offers for free? No. So where is the disparity between allowing a competitor to do such things and tying the hands of developers of YOUR open source platform from doing the same?
Before I go further, let me give you a little background on myself to illuminate things. I used to work for XXXXXXXXXXXXXX. I worked in one of their call centers with well over a thousand people, almost a quarter of whom purchased the G1. More than 50% of those users had custom builds running on their phones. How would I know this? I personally installed it on over 300 and gave instructions to many more who wanted to do it themselves. This was one call center. But your apparent attitude on the situation makes it apparent that providing these people with custom software that includes the Google-based programs that were ORIGINALLY ON THE DEVICE AT PURCHASE, is illegal. I'm sorry sir, but that notion is preposterous. All of the Android-based mobile platforms on the market today include the software that caused you to send Mr. Kondik a cease and desist letter. This means that every single end user who purchased one of the devices paid that bottom line you spoke of. Any other rationale is impossible. Non-supporting devices will not run Android, and as such, the only way to use the device is to have purchased one. This brings us to the logical conclusion that those applications, such as GMail and Google Talk are PAID FOR. The situation is equitable to this situation: Joe purchases a computer from a major distributor, say Dell. Dell gives Joe a complimentary piece of free software (available on the Dell website) which updates his drivers on the Dell website, included with his purchase. Joe decides he doesnt particularly like the operating system on the computer, and installs an operating system more to his liking, that also happens to include the Dell software. But lo-and-behold, that free software shouldnt be free to Joe, even though he paid Dell's bottom line through his original computer purchase.
Your flaw is that you are obviously trying to "spin" the situation. Unfortunately, its a thin disguise and everyone can see through it, clear as crystal. These people that I speak of? Developers. The developers whom you claim to encourage. This brings me to my next point. Developers are essentially software hackers. They take the code from a program, rip it apart, improve on it, and then put it back out on the market for other developers to toy with. Perhaps, in your travels as a computer programmer, you have come across a copy of the much fabled "hacker's manifesto". Free access to data. That is what it was about at its core philosophy. You claimed to provide developers with that free access through Android, and then punish the people whom you claim to support.
Have you ever seen "The Devil's Advocate", Mr. Morrill? Al Pacino has an excellent line in which he is describing the way God imbued man with instinct, saying "Think about it. He gives man instincts. He gives you this extraordinary gift, and then what does He do, I swear for His own amusement, his own private, cosmic gag reel, He sets the rules in opposition. It's the goof of all time. Look but don't touch. Touch, but don't taste. Taste, don't swallow." Is this not what you've done here? You've given us, the developers, what you claim to be an open-source platform, written for mobile platforms that contain previously installed versions of the software, and also containing applications that each and every possible user would have purchased through buying the device on which they run. Then you tell us that it is illegal for us to modify any portion of that software which you see fit at any given point in time. Perhaps you should have just kept it closed-source, so that anything innovative wouldnt stir controvversy, as it would have truly been illegal. You give us a gift and then set the rules in opposition as it suits you.
Now, if I havent struck a nerve yet, perhaps I will in my own belief on the subject. You FEAR us. The android development team put out an initial platform. The developers, using the source code given to us, have turned out platforms on several different versions that utilize more functionality with greater performance, more flexibility and a wider range of features than ANYTHING that the official releases have even come close to. Mr. Kondik's releases are a prime example of this. He has created a version of the platform which utilizes every aspect of the platform infinitely better than the official releases. He has also included functionality from FUTURE releases, constantly and consistently improving on such, in a timeframe that should have your development team in absolute hysterics. That, sir, is what I believe this is about. Fear and shame. Never did you imagine that the Android development community would be able to surpass the Godly heights of the original development team, but we have and continually do so. It's his popularity that earned him the letter. He posed the biggest threat to your team by sharing a creative vision with anyone willing to install it that your team couldn't possibly compete with. But what about all of the other major developers? As of right now, I can count over a hundred different custom builds that include much of the same functionality and applications that Mr. Kondik's software includes. Are you going to attempt to stop them too?
(continued in post #2)
I assume you have been on the internet before. I assume you know that it spans the globe and has absolutely no limits or boundaries. It is freedom at its peak. Anyone, anywhere can express anything they want. The beautiful thing is that it enables people to communicate, and thereby collaborate in real-time. An internet community with thirty thousand people doesnt have to find a meeting room with enough chairs. This is the problem you're facing. You have attempted to cut the head off of a snake that you created. Unfortunately, on the internet, when you cut off the head of a snake, the body doesnt die. A thousand more heads spawn in its place, angrier, defiant and more intent on their purpose. Perhaps that should be a wake up call.
Mr. Morrill, I hope that in reading this letter, you have come to realize the gravity of your position. You have not only hurt yourselves, but angered an entire community, consisting of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people. These are the people who write the applications that are sold on the Android Market. These are the people who have the time to spare to ensure that you still have a job by creating works of digital art, using the code that you claim to be "open source". Are you so obtuse as to believe that these people are going to slip silently into the night when their creativity is stifled by the whims of a multibillion dollar corporation? I think not, sir.
You simply cannot give freedom to the masses and then attempt to bind their hands, as you are attempting to do in this case. This has ended in cataclysmic failure for every culture and every authority that has attempted to do so in history. We live in a global society of ingenuity. People WILL find a way. The creative power of the developers of the android community will inevitably break you. History has shown ample evidence that a creative mind cannot be beaten down. No army of lawyers, no amount of cease and desist letters will stop the tide of creativity.
It's like a bear. The choice you had was to embrace this creativity and nurture it or to poke at it with a stick. Mr. Morrill, are you aware of the consequences of poking a bear with a stick? Some thought on that will bring you to an obvious, and quite unpleasant, conclusion.
Had you simply left well enough alone, the damage might have been minimal, but at this point you could be looking at a 2009 reenactment of the Boston Tea Party, with the Android platform playing the part of the British tea. The damage to your "bottom line" was so infinitesimally small as to equate to a mouse burping on a rush hour subway car in New York City. As stated previously, it is simply my belief that your development team was offended by the fact that amateur developers would put them to shame. Does Android come with a complimentary set of swim trunks? Perhaps you might invest. I hear Boston Harbor gets cold in the winter.
In closing, perhaps you should let the immortal words of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto echo through your mind as you contemplate the statements made in this letter:
"I fear that all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve".
Mr. Morrill, the giant is awake now, and his resolve is beyond your wildest dreams. I truly hope you are prepared to reap the consequences of what you have put in motion.
Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
amazing. your right they do fear us and they have woken a sleeping giant. what i dont get is the fact that these roms are making this phone better. as you said you gave over 300 people instructions how to do this at the call center. if anything these devs are helping google make sales, and google doesnt even have to make a better product. they make they same thing tht has been out since 0ct.22.2008 and the devs make it better. you sir are a god among men.
Wow, great letter, really looking forward to hearing the response to this - If you'd post it that is ;-)
You misspelt "purchased" in the eighth paragraph btw
yeah, this was the pre-spell-checked rough draft. the copy that i sent him was clean as a whistle.
Interesting letter. Not to mock you or anything, but it reminds me a lot of Keith Olbermann.
I am a RSA for TMO, and one of the major selling points was that Android was (is?) Open Source. That was a big deal to many customers.
I don't think the folks over a Google realize how tech savvy even the dumbest tech user is.
Had probably a 60 year old man come in the other day and he had put Hero on his G1 by himself.
(No offense to any oldsters.)
The world is changing, and Google just jumped in front of that subway train you mentioned.
this was truly a great letter. i would love to see the response (if you even get one) to this. i feel inspired to go do something now...
Android users, this is your call to arms.
Before you go and write long winded threatening letters to someone, maybe you should look into what you are writing about first. The person you are writing the letter to is an employee of a company that tells him what to do. I doubt after all of the help he has given developers and "hackers" in the Android irc channel, that he was just planning on striking everything down. My guess, and that of many others who know of him (havent chatted a lot, but he is social with us) would be that he was told to write that post. I dont want cyanogen roms to go away either, but I think you are going at it the wrong way. Hate the company, not the developers.
And after re-reading the post, you mention installing this on devices that already have it. The exact same arguement I used but you must also realize that an HTC hero does not get these Google Apps. It is an HTC branded phone and instead gets HTC branded apps. The "With Google" phones are the only ones that come with these apps pre-installed. Even then, apparently (I just found this out today) that your license to these apps does not allow you to copy them OFF of the device they came on. So that cut down another idea we had: copy the apps from the rom to SD, flash image, copy apps back.
Once again, I do not disagree with you or your anger, I just disagree with who you are directing it at.
irrelevant. "i was just doing what i was told" is never an excuse. it doesnt work in the justice system, and it doesnt work here. i could elaborate more, but i really dont want to invoke Godwin's Law this early in the conversation. he opened his mouth. he made himself the target. everyone is a nice and helpful person until they show their true colors.
perhaps its just me, but i'm one of those people that actually hold to my ideals. if i'm fighting for something and my boss tells me to do otherwise, i'm going to tell him to pack sand. if I get fired, i can always find a new job, but I can do so with my integrity intact. he had a choice. everyone always has a choice.
also, to your second post, the HTC branded phones arent the subject of controversy. the apps are "free". i quote free because it isnt true in this case. how is distributing the official Gmail app for free any different than accessing the same capabilities through another means? if I were to delete the official GMail app off of my phone entirely and instead access my gmail account through a browser, wouldnt that have the same effect on Google's "bottom line"? I'm still using the same service and not paying for it. Similarly, with the hero, if you have access to GMail through any email application or browser, are you not violating the same concept? You're still using the core of google's intellectual property for free. Their only real solution is to make the Google apps paid applications that everyone has access to if they want to shell out the cash, or simply drop the whole thing.
Are they going to stop people from creating custom GMail apps too? Cause if so, they've got a big fish to fry, cause they'd have to go after everyone who wrote a gmail plugin for firefox as well. any way you look at it, they're not going to stop the development community from going on, its simply too big.
If Dell gives you a "free" copy of vista on your laptop, and then you buy a compaq with linux installed on it. Does that mean you have the right to install your "free" vista on the compaq also? It was free! How about you write a new windows shell and you bundle your free windows vista with it. And you also throw in your free copy of Office that came with it.
I understand their point and I realize these examples are not EXACT enough to matter, but the point does. They give you the apps for A SPECIFIC device and they give them to you with rules. Rules that we do not like.
I feel that they instead of C&D'ing him, should have had a little sit down with him. Said "hey, we realize you are doing a lot of good for us by promoting our product and giving those who want more what they ask for when we cannot, but we have some rules for you. A, you must make every attempt you can to make sure the roms you distribute go on authorized "With Google" devices. B, not release stuff you do not have permission to release." This would allow google to control what he releases enough to fit within the rules (keeps carriers from saying "hey, he can release your apps without paying, why cant we?"). They would also benefit from the many thousands of users who flock to these custom roms but realize they are unusable in their bare forms.
And so you do not have to, I will be the first to pull the term nazi out of my hat in this one
I agree completely. As i said in the letter, they could have nurtured creativity (i.e. having a sit down with him and saying "hey look, we know that this is going to non-google devices and we cant have that, so make an attempt to not let it happen") or poke it with a stick. They chose the stick, and now they get to reap the backlash.
I also understand your initial examples, and while they do hold true for the circumstance, windows isnt lauded as being an open-source platform. In addition, i havent heard of microsoft going after people who create custom shells that utilize windows information, so long as they put a disclaimer on it saying that you're only allowed to use them if you're running an authorized copy of the OS. The same should have been done here, as you suggested.
Also, microsoft has specific anti-piracy safeguards in place to keep you from installing that software on your compaq that didnt come with it. Can you get around it? sure. Piracy happens, but its also illegal. But google has no such safeguards on the apps. Is it because they lacked the foresight to see this coming? Absolutely. If they didnt want the apps installed on non-branded/non-approved devices, then perhaps they should have made it impossible to do so. Sure, people would eventually find a way around it, but then they'd have a legitimate piracy gripe. As it is now, they dont. You dont hand a kid a cookie, let him eat half and then snatch it away because he shared the chocolate chips. You keep him away from the cookies from the get-go.
It really is a sad state of affiars. If something is going to be free, such as GMail, then Google shouldnt care how the users access it. How big of a chunk of their profits do you think its really going to hurt if people with the hero get a free copy of the gmail app? I bet their legal team made for handling this "issue" than it would cost them in ten years. If the apps in question were paid apps, then I would completely understand. People shouldnt get something free that they should have to pay for, which is one of the reasons that XDA has such a strict "warez" policy. But thats not the case.
The simplest solution would have been to realize that "oops, we did tell them it was open source, maybe we should clarify a bit and see if we can come to a reasonable understanding". But alas...
Also, to your point that the apps came with a specific device, what about those that purchased a device with those apps? We have a right to be using them as we see fit. When I bought my phone, I never signed anything that said that I couldnt theme the application if I wanted to. Google never made me sign a contract. And they couldnt, it would be ridiculous. What about people that purchased them on ebay or craigslist without a contract? They still bought the device and are the owner, and they certainly didnt have to agree not to modify any content. Is google going to go after every developer and every themer now too? Are they going to go after every end user who modified their content? It's just as illegal as making a rom that allows it to happen in the eyes of the law. Apple is attempting to do the same sort of crap with people jailbreaking the iphone. They're saying that even though you bought it, apple technically still owns it, so anything you do to it is illegal. Theres a huge legal debate going on over it right now and apple looks like theyre probably going to lose.
The safeguard they have in place is lack of root access. If you have root access yo have exploited a bug and are acting out of the designed use of the phone. You would not be able to backup or otherwise access these app files. Also, you would not be able to flash the new rom without root, which you gained by exploiting a bug.
Absolutely. But at the same time, the whole "exploiting a bug" argument is similarly null. If the bug never existed, two things would be true:
1. There would be no custom roms for end users, which Mr. Morrill says he supports and looks forward to seeing more of. This would be true since the idea of creating custom software would be idiotic as nobody would be able to install it. The only people utilizing the open-source framework would be major development houses, such as what creative is doing with the plazma stem-cell android that they're putting on the EGG. Application development has nothing to do with open source. The iPhone is not open source, but you can still develop apps for it.
2. The claim that they have about the free distribution of their intellectual property would hold merit, as it would be legitimate software piracy, instead of an unintended side effect of faulty design.
The first point is what makes this a farce. We, as developers, found a way to get custom software onto our devices, something which we were never intended to do. One of two things should have happened at that point: they should have let us continue to do it, which they did (closing the loophole could have been done, they could have found a way to prevent downgrading, seeing as there are no other OS options for the device) or they could have stopped it there and said that exploiting the bug is illegal. Its been a year since the device came out. This has been going on for a YEAR. You mean to tell me that this is an issue NOW and wasnt a year ago when it first started? Its only an issue because they're not the only game in town anymore. Ridiculous. Someone got their feathers ruffled and wanted to take out the little guy.
Ok, I am not going to keep replying to your endless wandering rebuttals. I feel you are wrong in who you are aiming your hate mail at and that is the end of the story.
Thats fine, and I do apologize for being excessively adamant about it. But I still feel I'm right. You only paint a target on yourself if you're prepared for people to shoot at you. Thats all I can say about it.
Darkrift said:
If Dell gives you a "free" copy of vista on your laptop, and then you buy a compaq with linux installed on it. Does that mean you have the right to install your "free" vista on the compaq also? It was free! How about you write a new windows shell and you bundle your free windows vista with it. And you also throw in your free copy of Office that came with it.
I understand their point and I realize these examples are not EXACT enough to matter, but the point does. They give you the apps for A SPECIFIC device and they give them to you with rules. Rules that we do not like.
I feel that they instead of C&D'ing him, should have had a little sit down with him. Said "hey, we realize you are doing a lot of good for us by promoting our product and giving those who want more what they ask for when we cannot, but we have some rules for you. A, you must make every attempt you can to make sure the roms you distribute go on authorized "With Google" devices. B, not release stuff you do not have permission to release." This would allow google to control what he releases enough to fit within the rules (keeps carriers from saying "hey, he can release your apps without paying, why cant we?"). They would also benefit from the many thousands of users who flock to these custom roms but realize they are unusable in their bare forms.
And so you do not have to, I will be the first to pull the term nazi out of my hat in this one
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About your dell giving you a "free" copy of vista. As long as that CD key is only used on one computer, you can use that CD key on ANY computer. Read their TOS. Your are wrong about a lot, but right about some. Changing the integrity of the windows shell is illegal, because that is microsoft property and NOT open source, but anytime you purchase an OS, or computer, you OWN that cd key of the software, all apps that come included as well. Could you try another example?
nice letter.
not so sure about the whole HTC (not "with google") phone thing- my magic is a HTC magic (32A) and it came will every single google app preinstalled on it.... not sure about hero though...
MontAlbert said:
nice letter.
not so sure about the whole HTC (not "with google") phone thing- my magic is a HTC magic (32A) and it came will every single google app preinstalled on it.... not sure about hero though...
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Hero did too.
Regards,
Dave
I have come to a point where I can no longer sit back and watch our system be bombarded with spam apps. It hurts android as a system and will be its downfall, open or not.
I sent tips to Gizmodo, Engadget, BGR, and all others that have can reach a large audience.
I for one am sick and tired of all the bull**** I see in the market. Open system or not, its getting out of hand. I can't be the only one fed up with the situation. To all android users please voice your hatred of people abusing the rules. Just because its not illegal does not make it ethical or allowable
These are a few links to help people realize how bad this problem is and how bad it will become.
Who cares if we have 50,000 apps and upwards of 15,000 are complete crap. There are 20 real offenders with about 1,000 apps each. 1,000!! each. Thats ridiculous.
Almost 50% of our applications do nothing. Absolutely nothing. I love my N! and have been an Android user since the G1. I have watched our open system is being abused and ransacked by idiots.
Anyone else fed up with this do something to fix it rather than sit back.
I know this is not so much about the N1 than it is Android in general, but I wanted people to see it and spread the word.
These are some websites to look at
http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/bwemj/pocket_empires_spamming_android_market/
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Android+Market/thread?tid=511e1703b32ce3a5&hl=en
http://www.eurodroid.com/2010/02/an...he-day-zeitmann-and-its-deluxe-clock-widgets/
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Android+Market/thread?tid=608e9ca3fc7a80fb&hl=en
http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-635400.html
I'd noticed a lot of reviews mentioning Pocket Empire, all across the Market, earlier today, it's a pain in the arse, and highlights the fact that you really can't read just a few comments left, and assume they'll be accurate.
Yes it is totally our of hand. The Pocket Empire developers have been encouraging their users to go to the market and download any and all Free apps they dont have to pay for. Then to leave feedback score of 5 for the unrelated app with a comment promoting their Pocket Empires and a referral code. So as well as the comments being BS so are the star ratings they are leaving, which do not reflect the underlying application.
Here are some threads discussing it.
Nexusone Stop spamming the Android Market Pocket Empire players
People advertise everywhere for "pocket empires"- can this spam be curtailed somehow?
How about all the people who were getting their knickers in a knot about the sentence "this message was not sent by tapatalk" sink their teeth into this one.
It is of far greater significance and has the potential to undermine the android market. The lack of action by google to date on this issue (ie not banning PE) suggests to me that they want the market to self regulate.
So lets get together and do something about this Pocket Empire mob.
Yeah the stupid spam comments about "join pocket empires and receive 100 credits" is really getting annoying, not to mention the complete random and totally useless apps that have been coming onto the market lately.
You can at least use appbrain as an alternative, because it filters out the vast majority of Spam apps. But it cannot filter all the PE Spam comments.
Well yesterday, the dev of Pocket Empires sent an ingame message out saying the following:
Hey everyone. We are laying down a new "dont spam other games" policy due to the amount of spame that's been being spread around. Starting May 1st any comments past that date will have their referral code banned for a week. Thanks for your assumed cooperation and enjoy!
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Seems like the dev is trying to put a stop to it at least for now.
Sistum Id said:
Well yesterday, the dev of Pocket Empires sent an ingame message.....
Seems like the dev is trying to put a stop to it at least for now.
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Yes but they are just going through the motions of saying the right thing. Crying Crocodile Tears. How do you honestly think they are going to police their threat of one week bans?
If they were serious about it, they would
1) be telling their users to go back and undo the damage they have done. Which would involve removing spam comments left for other apps AND setting ratings stars to average.
2) removing the referral code system altogether, so that once they no longer can Spam the market they do not just move to every other forum know to man. Such as some smart arse adding a PE referral in this very thread which will no doubt happen soon enough.
I would really like to see Google pull PE from the market altogether for some time as a penalty. But probably wont happen as they want the market to self regulate.
POCKET EMPIRES = POX it must be eradicated
Quick add me on pocket empire!
My code is [email protected]
I'll pay that one ;-)
KnightMAREcrow said:
These are some websites to look at
http://forum.xda-developers.com/archive/index.php/t-635400.html
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Yeah, I opened that thread over there. What bothers me the most is how easy it would it be for google to give us the tools to crush spam.
From where I see it, there are two distinct problems right now:
1) the spam apps (those by Michael Quach, Zeittman, etc).
The easy solution: allow the users to filter out specific words and developers. Then, if a given number of users filter out a developer, consider him "uninteresting" and relegate his apps to the bottom.
2) the PE spam in other apps and games.
The easy solution: if a given number of users report a given number of posts as spam (e.g. 50 individual users report 50 individual messages) consider them spam and filter out every message that is 90% similar to them (e.g. they have mostly the same words but the referral code changes).
These would be completely automatic and would require absolutely no human interaction on part of Google. It's so easy it makes me want to go to their offices and slap the person in charge in the neck.
I reckon a simpler solution to the PE SPAM with referral codes is as follows:
Restrict feedback entries to known words. So if a user enters anything that is not a word, such as a referral code, serial number or email, then it would get rejected. There is absolutely no reason for legitimate feedback to contain any word or string of characters that is not in a dictionary.
logger said:
There is absolutely no reason for legitimate feedback to contain any word or string of characters that is not in a dictionary.
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What about diminutives, etc? Also, What if I want to point to a related app that is better in my opinion? I have done that in the past.
Fair point.
However, for simplicity, blocking non words would go a long way to fixing the referral code issue, while allowing most feedback. It may be better to point out the shortcomings of an application, than to refer readers to an alternative. I know if I was a developer, I would be annoyed if feedback pointed to a competitors product. I trust I got my point across here, using only common words and no diminutives. Common diminutives could be added to the dictionary in any case.
logger said:
However, for simplicity, blocking non words would go a long way to fixing the referral code issue, while allowing most feedback.
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The operative word here being "most". I get your point, but I think self-regulation would be better on the long run. I don't think the best way to fix an annoying situation is to introduce another annoying situation, even if it's less annoying than the first one; and I sure would be pissed if I was writing a comment and the Market rejected it because one of the words I used was not in the dictionary.
logger said:
It may be better to point out the shortcomings of an application, than to refer readers to an alternative. I know if I was a developer, I would be annoyed if feedback pointed to a competitors product
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I would be too, but honestly: I don't write comments to please developers, I do it to give other users good advice. Isn't that precisely the point of the comments system?
http://www.appbrain.com/
If you refuse to use it after I've showed you this, or knew about it already and didn't use it, then don't start another thread like this. You have your out.
And please don't use the "we shouldn't have to use a 3rd party app." This is mother####### XDA, we use what we have to in order to get things done quickly and smoothly.
ATnTdude said:
And please don't use the "we shouldn't have to use a 3rd party app." This is mother####### XDA, we use what we have to in order to get things done quickly and smoothly.
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Yeah, let's leave the rest of Android users on their own. We're mother####### XDA, we don't care about things working right or not if we can make them work for US!
Who cares about the health of the Market? Who cares if it deters people from using Android? We're mother####### XDA!
ATnTdude said:
http://www.appbrain.com/
If you refuse to use it after I've showed you this, or knew about it already and didn't use it, then don't start another thread like this. You have your out.
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Of course we know about appbrain. Before you go sprouting off, Just read some the feedback comments in http://www.appbrain.com/browse/apps/?apps=free for example Shazam and you will immediately see they are not filtered and that the SPAM comments we have been discussing reside there as well.
Any yes I have asked appbrain if they would consider filtering the SPAM comments from their site. Hopefully they will.
In this instance, I believe the market should regulate itself. There has been enormous growth and with it comes the BS. I'm of the mind to believe this will be addressed.
Legalize it. Don't criticize it.
1) the spam apps (those by Michael Quach, Zeittman, etc).
The easy solution: allow the users to filter out specific words and developers. Then, if a given number of users filter out a developer, consider him "uninteresting" and relegate his apps to the bottom.
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i agree.. i think the user should be able add any developer to their personal 'blacklist' that will just simply hide them from view in the market.
also, a more in depth search is needed. filter by keywords you want, keywords you dont want, categories, rating, total downloads, active installs, developers country, downloads to time in market ratio, etc, etc... i mean come on how hard is this to implement when your the top search provider in the entire world.
edit: also, this spam crap is hurting the legit devs. without proper filters or search, it is an uphill battle to not fail. i mean, how will the casual user even know your app exists when 50 apps above it and 50 apps below it are all spam.
A few blog and newspaper are reporting the discovery disclosed by 2 Apple hacker at blackhat conference. (if they are not apple fanboy then they sure look like they are)
http://mobile.venturebeat.com/2010/...-steals-your-data-was-downloaded-by-millions/
As much as I do care about data security and think that some people may not be careful enough about what they carry on their phone, I dislike reading such story without much proof, I truly hope Google will put an end to this by posting something about it.
The funny part is that the application made by their company (lookout) is asking for MUCH MORE right than the wallpaper they are pinpointing, I am also wondering about their genome project and I am wondering if they used that "virus scanner" to gather application info from the people who used it (that being said without any proof, just my gut feeling exactly like their theory on those wallpaper)
On a more positive side I hope this will raise some people awareness about what they install on their phone even rom's could one day get compromised but I do not think we are there yet...
So the whole point of this post is to ask all the blogger around to get back to those 2 security researcher and ask them to provide proof (source code) of the malware they found so that we can put an end to this story either way...
The more people will switch from the Apple to Android, the more hate and dirt there will be about Android.
It's just getting started.
Personally, it's fun to watch, they gonna lose anyway.
DarkDvr said:
The more people will switch from the Apple to Android, the more hate and dirt there will be about Android.
It's just getting started.
Personally, it's fun to watch, they gonna lose anyway.
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I do respect apple for bringing some great innovation but I am concerned about the lack of quality coverage I see in some blog and online news paper, I mean nobody seem to have asked proof or a second opinion on quite a few recent post (like the 80% of android user would not buy another one story...)
As for the winner or looser, as long as user win I am fine with this war...
I saw this and it seems like propaganda....they took all the time to write the article but neglected to mention the application name.
britoso said:
I saw this and it seems like propaganda....they took all the time to write the article but neglected to mention the application name.
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They did publish the name of the app, In fact a LOT of different one since this is simply a program that download wallpaper from various theme. the guy have flooded the market with all of the different theme he offer.
http://www.androidcentral.com/rogue-android app-stealing-data-according-security-firm#comments
If you look at the update they wrote to change a bit the story of what the application does, the developer seem to be a bit lost about this.
Either way if this app is really a malware then they should have contacted google, and they should have published the EXACT description of what they do, instead they talk about their market analysis ...
Some fact, about time!
http://blog.mylookout.com/2010/07/mobile-application-analysis-blackhat/#more-1380
Here's the developer answer so android central http://www.scribd.com/mobile/documents/35072457
Now let's see if Google has something to say about this WallPaperGate... in the mean time it look like they SUSPENDED all the developer app
Personally I have no problem with those wallpaper app, I do not use lookout tho since I believe it's asking for too much right and I am not convinced it does something at all
How about "flickey wallpaper" ? I use that one, and it rhymes with the listed application.
adambenjamin said:
How about "flickey wallpaper" ? I use that one, and it rhymes with the listed application.
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Hey thanks for pointing this program (flikie) it's great!
The right requested by flikie are quite normal so I installed it, I do not use picture as wallpaper usually but I do like to watch them!
Back to the topics, I think the developpers in general should review their apps and make sure they do not ask for undue right!
Application to protect yourself
I personally use aSpotCat to screen what the application are using as right on my nexus one, it is free and allow you to revise the right of installed app
If you know of other app that can prevent malware from spreading please post them
thats how it is in an open system. some people will exploit it.
thats a trade off of the android market.... we will get spyware eventually.
I agree with antikryst... this happens on any platform. Don't look like iPhans and deny the truth and deflect the blame. These guys may or may not have an agenda, but they didn't "seem" to make this stuff up.
I call partly BS
The wallpaper apps in question cannot access your contact's phone numbers, SMS messages or personal information.
Check out the manifest permissions on the apps in question. It is the last item that is the problem.
!Storage
modify Delete
!Your location
coarse (network-based) location
!Network communication
full Internet access
!Phone calls
read phone state and identity
The permission only allows the app to read the IMEI number of your phone (your hardware's unique identifying number), your phone number, and your currently programmed voice-mail number. If you hard coded your voice-mail password as part of your voice-mail number, then they have that too.
They shouldn't be stealing this info, and Google should separate "read phone state" from "read identity", but the stories on this app stating that your SMS's and contacts being stolen and sent to China just plain wrong.
johnp263 said:
They shouldn't be stealing this info, and Google should separate "read phone state" from "read identity", but the stories on this app stating that your SMS's and contacts being stolen and sent to China just plain wrong.
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And, unfortunately, that stemmed from the original article written at VentureBeat being incorrect. The presenters never actually said SMS and browser history were compromised. I know that at least Engadget was contacted and informed that the article at VentureBeat was incorrect, and VentureBeat also corrected their article to indicate that SMSs and browser histories were not being compromised. But at the start, it was too late, and from there, it was a game of telephone.
Here is a blog post by one of the presenters to clarify everything.
http://blog.mylookout.com/2010/07/mobile-application-analysis-blackhat/
amnigo said:
And, unfortunately, that stemmed from the original article written at VentureBeat being incorrect. The presenters never actually said SMS and browser history were compromised. I know that at least Engadget was contacted and informed that the article at VentureBeat was incorrect, and VentureBeat also corrected their article to indicate that SMSs and browser histories were not being compromised. But at the start, it was too late, and from there, it was a game of telephone.
Here is a blog post by one of the presenters to clarify everything.
http://blog.mylookout.com/2010/07/mobile-application-analysis-blackhat/
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What a douche bag. The initial commentary about the apps was essentially "It's stealing you babies and your babie's babie's babies".
But I guess actually telling what the app actually does is a little less exciting than what they did.
Read this link. Read it carefully. It's not just about Google being able to run whatever code they like on your devices, it's about Google DOING it, remotely, without any user intervention/confirmation.
What's next ? Let me throw some wild and far fetched guesses...
* Applanet like apps being killed off on the devices to fight piracy...
* Anything not from the market being wiped out from time to time, for the same reason...
* Users are hunted down and being prosecuted for piracy based on their devices content...
* The system is rigged/updated to block inappropriate content, such as pedophile sites...
* Users are being prosecuted for possessing and/or visiting inappropriate content/providers...
* The "inappropriate" extends to warez sites and regular porn sites, "bad" users are still prosecuted...
* The "inappropriate" extend to the "wrong" political sites, "bad" users are still prosecuted...
* .......
I bet you get the idea. And yea, i know i am taking it too far, but still
PS: Let me add something... the builds we are running on our HD2 are often partially illegal (gaps) etc... hint hint
maybe a little paranoid, ok, well maybe a lot
InfX said:
* The system is rigged/updated to block inappropriate content, such as pedophile sites...
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not sure why you mentioned this, anyone in their right mind would welcome this particular point.
kam333 said:
maybe a little paranoid, ok, well maybe a lot
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A lot, exaggerated to the max, of course. But that doesn't turn what Google does right.
kam333 said:
not sure why you mentioned this, anyone in their right mind would welcome this particular point.
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Thats EXACTLY why i mentioned it.
InfX said:
A lot, exaggerated to the max, of course. But that doesn't turn what Google does right.
Thats EXACTLY why i mentioned it.
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personally, i think google already knows tooooo much about its users, but in the case of malware, google is definitely the lesser of the 2 evils
let me ask you this, would you rather the big G have some remote access to your device or hackers collecting your personal info. Its the connected world, there's no turning back!!!
only real solution for anyone worried about companies interfering with their device... remove the sim card... for ever.
gnight & dont have nightmares
kam333 said:
would you rather the big G have some remote access to your device or hackers collecting your personal info.
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Guess what... neither of those
Also, there are terrorists under the bed,chemtrails in the sky, bromine in the water,drug dealers at the school gates, drunks on fones in cars, bondage freaks at work,human traffickers, religious zealots bent coppers paedo nursery workers racists fanatics and plain clothes Google operatives spreading FUD in forums cos its cheaper and gets more results than million pound lawsuits. Oh and bloody clowns.
Just a random outpouring,please continue.
Infx may sound paranoid, and no person of any kind of moral decency would condone anbody using pedophelia porn or any other form of content that causes any kind of harm to anyone. But those are matters for the authorities to deal with, not google. If the internet's morality policies were enforced by a huge internet based company, wouldn't that be considered some kind of a conflict of interests somehow? I mean imagine if Disney were the biggest internet company, we'd never see so much as a single cuss-word or titty. Big companies shouldn't be able to impose their own commercialized morals upon users, the internet will inevitably grow more and more watered down. I don't consider myself a paranoid person, but this type of issue stinks of denial of 1st amendment rights, one step closer to completely government/corporate filtered news-tainment, and corporate control of the masses.
Huggs, i totally agree, thata why i posted this, not because i am actualluly that paranoid (would i still use Internet if i was ?). What i tried to do in my post is to demonstrate a worst case scenario, how would google start with somethimg that should be totally accepted by everyone (fighting pedophily) yet slowly move to fighting things we no longer want it to fight (political opinions).
PS: This little remote control thing is the first step for a corporate giant to become a corporate government, a corporate dictator. And the onlu things corporations care for is money, not their users.
PPS: Just my personal opinion, feel free to disagree.
I like that idea: http://code.google.com/p/open-android-alliance/
InfX said:
Guess what... neither of those
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you really dont have a great deal of options
android, rim, ios & wp7 all have the ability to "spy" on their users to some degree,
mostly its just basic info such as: gps location, installed apps & how often they're used, crash logs, etc
some apps on ios have been caught out sending even more personal data. The point is, whilst i dont disagree fully with your concerns, i do see your post as somewhat hysterical.
There was no suggestion in the article you linked (or any other that ive read) that google is planning any of things you mentioned, so why mention them, as doing so only makes you a part of the current media trend of FUD as samsamuel put it.
this isnt about deny that all companies are in it 1st for the £$€, then customer welfare further down the list, im talking about being realistic. at this moment in time i cannot see google taking the path that you suggested, i also have far more immediate and real life things to focus on.
im all for a good conspiracy theory, fema detention camps springing up all over the usa (REX 84), the western so called "powers" planting the seeds of unrest in africa & the middle east so they can insert more puppets to secure natural resources (be it oil, gold, diamonds...), i could go on, but this isnt the place.
so let bring it back to google, you are in denial if you think cyber crime isnt going on, and with the rise of the smartphones we will see a rise of cyber crims trying to gain access. so i ask again who would you rather have access to your device?
if you still think or say neither, il know for sure you have lost the plot or you have taken my advice & binned your sim card cause thats the only other option you have.
@huggs, normally your post are quite informative & rational, that last post wasnt imho
no one was talking about censorship, the 1 point about google blocking access to child porn is something i would vote for, this has nothing to do with internet policing, you say thats down to the authorities, but they are not all seeing (no yet anyway) hence the use of informants by law enforcement the world wide, n thats all i would support. yes its possible that you give them a small mandate they will take it further but il worry about that IF the signs arise.
ppl who get there kick this way should have no rights, & should be actively hunted by whatever methods are available & taken out of the general population.
P.S.
Man i would love to have such a care free life that i need to start imagining then stressing about what may or may not happen, but i dont, my concerns are here & now, What you are talking about ISNT.
sorry for the lengthy post but your suggestions/posts are a subtle form of propaganda and a 1 line response really wouldn't cut it.
all the best
Kam
I say if we are doing something wrong and get caught that's our own fault.
How is it illegal? Isn't android open license ie freeware?
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
@kam333, i may be way less paranoid than you may think, mind the fact i've posted this as a VERY far-fetched and unrealistic speculation that only got slim to nil chance of actually happening, but it does demonstrate a possibility of undoubtedly good things becoming a base to slowly advance into nasty control-it-all direction. And, yea, your suggestion about binning the SIM card won't work. I still got WiFi
@dung8604, search the net about why Cyanogen mod no longer includes Google apps.
Well, I'm running a cooked rom without a Google account set up. So I can cross that off of the paranoid list.
I can't say I'm surprised by anything written in the article.
Did a quick search and from what i can tell, only Google apps are proprietary. Nothing about the OS itself though
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
Hello! I've come in contact with Greg Kumparak who wrote this arictle. I sent him the following email:
Hey Greg!
First off, i wanted to say after joining twitter just minutes ago, I was scrolling through your tweets and found them very funny and helpful.
Next, I was reading an article you wrote involving conflipper and the Microsoft Kin. To jog your memory, the Kin is the disaster phone Microsoft intended to market for teens. I have also been fairly active in a group at XDA Developers attempting to crack the Kin Two phone now sold by Verizon. There have been significant advances toward the ability to write and edit files on the phone itself. I'm sure you'll find our endeavorvery interesting and I'd be happy to explain all the details. In a nutshell: the phone is more secure normal phones, runs off a form of Win7Mobile, is sold as a "feature phone", and, without a doubt, has potential to rival smart phones. Of course, since the phone uses WiFi, these abilities (one could say, smartphone-like) do not require a data package. If thats not bang for the buck, I don't know what is.
Anyway, I'd like to know If you think the story of this phone and its ability to have apps is worth writing an article on. Some pretty exciting things are going on with the device, currently there is a facebook group getting in contact with Personal Communications Devices (company) and a group of HTML experts writing our free version of Microsoft old cloud system for the kin, kin.com.
If you dont think this article can make it, I understand. Either way, however, I was hoping you could give me an email address for conflipper because I'd like to shoot him an email asking about what he found in the kin ROMs and how he got in.
Thanks for you'r time, I'm sure your a busy man,
(My Name Here)
He replied minutes later by saying something alone the lines of "I'm interesting and want more details" (I dont want to quote him w/o permission). He also informed me that conflipper is retired and his old site is here. I would like to set up a skype/phone chat with Greg for the mutual benefit of us both. In his favor, he is interested and would possibly like to write an article about our homebrews. To the benefit of us, I'm sure he has many contacts and a published article could attract the attention we need.
I would like a few key people to be on the line with Greg in order to present all aspects of the Kin-Hacking World. Don't hesitate to mention anything I should be presenting to him. If you feel you should be included in the phonecall/skype please state why. I would like JohnKussack to be there also. EDIT: I plan to show him the concept document the dev group (from the facebook group) has on google docs.
Feel free to comment/leave your opinion.