Google Demands Microsoft Pull YouTube App For WP8 716
First time accepted submitter exomondo writes "Google has given Microsoft until May 22nd to pull their Windows Phone 8 YouTube app from the marketplace and disable it on customer devices. It not only includes a built-in ad blocker but also allows users to download videos and doesn't impose device-specific streaming restrictions outlined in the YouTube Terms Of Service. A Microsoft spokesperson said in part: 'YouTube is consistently one of the top apps downloaded by smartphone users on all platforms, but Google has refused to work with us to develop an app on par with other platforms. Since we updated the YouTube app to ensure our mutual customers a similar YouTube experience, ratings and feedback have been overwhelmingly positive. We'd be more than happy to include advertising but need Google to provide us access to the necessary APIs. In light of Larry Page's comments today calling for more interoperability and less negativity, we look forward to solving this matter together for our mutual customers.'"
Re:I can't wait to see this battle (Score:4, Informative)
We'd be more than happy to include advertising but need Google to provide us access to the necessary APIs
I don't get this. As I understand it, the only thing they need to include advertising is... "nothing".
Just remove the ad blocker and the ads will be back. The ads are there by default.
Similar with the downloading; you don't need access to the API's in order to prevent you from adding a download option in your app.
Although both features would be highly appreciated, the reasons MS provides are a bit odd.
Re:Hey, Google - FUCK YOU (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I can't wait to see this battle (Score:3, Informative)
When this is exactly what Microsoft has been doing to everyone else for the past 20 years?
[citation needed]
Re:I can't wait to see this battle (Score:5, Informative)
Karma's a bitch.
Karma also has no standing with the courts.
Re:I can't wait to see this battle (Score:5, Informative)
Nudge, nudge - you already can.
https://github.com/rg3/youtube-dl [github.com]
Re:I can't wait to see this battle (Score:3, Informative)
Re:I can't wait to see this battle (Score:4, Informative)
Re:I can't wait to see this battle (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Feels good (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Anyone else here noticed? (Score:5, Informative)
Technically Youtube has a mobile website which Windows Phone users already had access to so it isn't really similar at all.
Re: I can't wait to see this battle (Score:5, Informative)
The API comes with terms of service. Saying it's OK to ignore them is like saying A DDOS attack is perfectly fine since it too uses the API.
I think what Microsoft done is no less then an exploit. And unlike some script kiddie, this is for money.
Re:I can't wait to see this battle (Score:4, Informative)
It is possible.
Those engineers also would have needed to be aware of every Microsoft program that used those unpublished APIs so they could give them a heads up.
Or. Engineers in completely different parts of Microsoft not only found the hidden APIs and started using them but magically made changes to the software that would have broken with the API changes that so happened to work around the problems that would have come up under the neew "unpublished" changes to those APIs.
It is much more possible that the system was designed to give Office and IE a leg up.
Re:I can't wait to see this battle (Score:5, Informative)
Re: I can't wait to see this battle (Score:5, Informative)
But the rumor is that Google is doing this as a "fuck you" to Microsoft because Microsoft has filed patent lawsuits against most of Google's Android partners and is running the "Scroogled" anti-Google publicity campaign. This is just a way for Google to fight back.
Re: I can't wait to see this battle (Score:4, Informative)
Google is not doing that, even though they've given Apple access to the same APIs. So taken by itself, Microsoft is in the right and Google is in the wrong.
Actually, Google makes the iOS Youtube app.