Apple Drops Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) For Released iPhone Firmware

Apple has announced that they have dropped the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) for released iPhone Firmware.

In a statement to developers on its iPhone Developer Program website they have said that they had it in place because iPhone firmware includes many inventions and innovations that they wanted to protect.

You can read the entire text of Apple's announcement along with some iPhone developer reactions after the jump.

The Non-Disclosure Agreement had caused a huge outcry among the developer community as it kept them from talking to anyone about programming for the iPhone which would have helped iPhone application development.

Apple has realized that this was counter productive and published the following statement to developers on its iPhone Developer Program website:

"We have decided to drop the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for released iPhone software.

We put the NDA in place because the iPhone OS includes many Apple inventions and innovations that we would like to protect, so that others don’t steal our work. It has happened before. While we have filed for hundreds of patents on iPhone technology, the NDA added yet another level of protection. We put it in place as one more way to help protect the iPhone from being ripped off by others.

However, 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. Please note that unreleased software and features will remain under NDA until they are released.

Thanks to everyone who provided us constructive feedback on this matter."

So it means that released iPhone firmware like firmware 2.1 and below is no longer covered by the DNA, while iPhone firmware 2.2 which is still in beta is still under NDA.

Apple's announcement should be welcome news to iPhone developers. Craig Hockenberr of the Iconfactory, and developer of Twitterrific, has released some special source code to share in celebration of this momentous occasion which he had worked with his friend Anthony Piraino. He goes on to say:

"Now let’s enjoy our newfound freedom to discuss the iPhone SDK and the first of many sample code releases on this site!"

This is also positive news for book publishers who were not able to publish any books on iPhone programming due to the NDA.

Brady Forest over at O'Rielly website comments:

"This is great news. I look forward to the many online tutorials, events (like our own iPhoneLive) and books (like the Prag's) that will bloom."

Its good to see Apple listening to some constructive feedback.

Update:

iPhone hacking expert, Zdziarski, who recently revealed that iPhone takes screen shots (kind of spying); and also provided a fix to disable it seems to think otherwise, he says:

"The statement by Apple only claims it applies to iPhone software. It does not specifically mention the SDK or its APIs, which are not part of the iPhone's software, but separate desktop components. This could mean that Apple has only allowed coverage of superficial features of the phone itself, and not necessarily given the green light to things like Apple SDK books. With Apple's "university" program (vetting educational programs that teach SDK programming), it seems unlikely that Apple would drop the NDA covering the SDK to make this new program obsolete. Only time will tell if they will do what everyone is expecting them to do, or if they are just putting on a smoke-and-mirrors show."

[via Apple]

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