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Apple

Apple Locks Top Secret-Spiller Out of His Developer Account (cultofmac.com) 50

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Guilherme Rambo, one of the top Apple secret-spillers, says Apple locked him out of his developer account, preventing him from accessing critical tools needed to create and update iOS and Mac apps. From a report: In a blog post detailing his problem, Rambo revealed that Apple locked him out in August. Since then, all his attempts to resolve the issue met a dead end, he says. Rambo's post doesn't mention that he digs through Apple beta software looking for clues about unreleased Apple products -- and publishes his findings on 9to5Mac. That might be the precise reason why he's locked out. A famously secretive company, Apple historically took harsh measures against leakers and rumor mongers.
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Apple Locks Top Secret-Spiller Out of His Developer Account More

Apple Locks Top Secret-Spiller Out of His Developer Account

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  • He Broke The Developer Terms Of Service (Score:5, Insightful)

    by WankerWeasel ( 875277 ) on Thursday November 21, 2019 @09:48AM (#59438890)
    Publishing his findings publicly from the developer builds he searches is against Apple's Developer Agreement. It should be no surprise that they'd rightfully lock him out after blatantly violating that agreement multiple times. He signed a non-disclosure agreement and violated it.

    • Re:He Broke The Developer Terms Of Service (Score:4, Funny)

      by Z00L00K ( 682162 ) on Thursday November 21, 2019 @10:28AM (#59438998) Homepage Journal

      So when will there be 'First Blood'?

    • play stupid games, win stupid prizes (Score:5, Insightful)

      by v1 ( 525388 ) on Thursday November 21, 2019 @10:34AM (#59439022) Homepage Journal

      So Apple has finally had enough of his violating their TOS and doing something that Apple really doesn't like (exposing spoilers), repeatedly , and now he's complaining? (and without full disclosure of what all he's done to instigate the response)

      Cry me a river.

      • He also claimed repeatedly that said secrets were found in Public Beta releases, not those from Developer Beta ones. As such, said information was not covered by NDA.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by Holi ( 250190 )
          Might want to rethink your premise.

          https://beta.apple.com/sp/beta... [apple.com]

          Yes, the public beta software is Apple confidential information. Don’t install the public beta software on any systems you don't directly control or that you share with others. Don’t blog, post screen shots, tweet, or publicly post information about the public beta software, and don't discuss the public beta software with or demonstrate it to others who are not in the Apple Beta Software Program. If Apple has publicly di

          • And they could have the same sort of constraint inside end-user license agreements. The public/non-public thing is pointless.

            Of course they have the right to block him. I think they don't even need any violation or explanation. This is a vendor/customer fight.

            There have always been attempts by vendors to prevent reverse-engineering, either with overly-constraining license agreements or trying to pass laws. The counter-power here is from the users who use public shaming and public pressure. Which is exactl

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jeremyp ( 130771 )

      The only thing I would say to that is that they should tell him why his account is locked, if that is what they have done.

      Of course they might have done that and the email is in his junk mail folder. Perhaps all the emails he claims they said they'd send are in his junk mail.

      On the whole, I have no sympathy: he has repeatedly violated the NDA and I'm amazed they took so long to lock his account.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by _merlin ( 160982 )

      But information wants to be free! His problem is that he was in it for the fame. If he'd leaked anonymously, he'd probably still be able to leak stuff.

  • Imagine (Score:3)

    by jabberw0k ( 62554 ) on Thursday November 21, 2019 @09:48AM (#59438896) Homepage Journal

    if Tandy had the power to stop you from writing programs for your TRS-80, or selling them thru advertisements in BYTE and Kilobaud.

    Why would anyone submit to blackmail like this?

    • iPhone apps make more money for developers compared to Android. Nobody is forcing him to develop for Apple. He is free to work on any other open platform.

    • Imagine if Tandy could enforce agreements that had with people where if Tandy granted them access to beta software, the person wouldn’t disclose any details. I’d call those Snitches Get Stitches (SGS) agreements.

  • New developer account? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Calibax ( 151875 ) on Thursday November 21, 2019 @10:56AM (#59439128)

    This guy is being rather petty. Apple can't track developers - all he has to do is create a new developer account and access it through a VPN.

    He's probably done this already, and is only bitching to get sympathy because big bad Apple is discriminating against him. He'll get none from me - he has broken Apple's TOS multiple times for personal gain.

    • That's mean he'd have to pay the $99 yearly fee again. Maybe he's too cheap.
    • He was in violation of an NDA, and Apple closed his account.

      What do you think Apple legal will do if they closed him out of his account for NDA violation, and he does it again, and they found out? That could have bad consequences. Closing another account is not the worst that Apple can do.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Holi ( 250190 )
      His account still has apps for sale on the store, he can no longer update them for the users.
      Granted this is all his own doing, but no a fresh new developer account does not solve his problems.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        His account still has apps for sale on the store, he can no longer update them for the users.
        Granted this is all his own doing, but no a fresh new developer account does not solve his problems.

        Or maybe he just got hacked and his account is taken over.

        Typically Apple will close developer accounts and remove all traces of the developer from the store, including all apps and other stuff.

        It's entirely possible he got hacked and they changed his password and stuff on him.

        Unless there's a thing where your apps ca

  • "preventing him from accessing critical tools needed to create and update iOS and Mac apps."

    iOS maybe, MacOS, seriously? No. I write cross platform unix programs which I also compile on MacOS. All I need is a copy of Clang and Make which don't require any developer account.

    And newsflash! There are ways to distribute a program without using Apples walled garden App Store.

    • Re:Can't access the tools? What tools? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Thursday November 21, 2019 @11:16AM (#59439256) Homepage Journal

      And newsflash! There are ways to distribute a program without using Apples walled garden App Store.

      Not for iOS. Sure, you can reach the minuscule percentage of people who are running an old version which was hackable, and have bothered to do so, but you can't reach the vast majority of users.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Viol8 ( 599362 )

        I was talking about MacOS. Thought that was pretty clear.

        • I was talking about MacOS. Thought that was pretty clear.

          Desktop computing is a shrinking market, and so is software not delivered via app stores. Not only wasn't it clear, but it's also small consolation.

          • I was talking about MacOS. Thought that was pretty clear.

            Desktop computing is a shrinking market, and so is software not delivered via app stores. Not only wasn't it clear, but it's also small consolation.

            It was absolutely clear. Your nit picking it on nits that aren't even there.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Viol8 ( 599362 )

            "and so is software not delivered via app stores"

            Not for the desktop market.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Holi ( 250190 )
          And the developer in the article is an IOS developer, which makes your comment pretty irrelevant.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Viol8 ( 599362 )

            Which part of " preventing him from accessing critical tools needed to create and update iOS and MAC APPS" in the submission didn't you understand?

      • Even if there were other ways to distribute, many of us wouldn't take advantage of it. I pay the Apple premium *because* of the walled garden. I appreciate that there's someone reviewing the actual source code of this vast trove of apps and at least trying to ensure some modicum of stability, security, privacy, etc. It's not a great system, but no one has given me a better one. There are thousands of small, useful apps all over the web, most of which I wouldn't let onto my computer because I don't know that

        • Even if there were other ways to distribute, many of us wouldn't take advantage of it. I pay the Apple premium *because* of the walled garden. I appreciate that there's someone reviewing the actual source code of this vast trove of apps

          Apple has repeatedly delivered malware into the walled garden via the app store. Apple cares more about keeping app developers from bypassing their billing systems than about keeping out malware. The safety is illusory.

        • WOAH. You actually think they review the source code for the app store? No offence, but are you the least bit educated about the product you're pedestaling? The review for the apps store is nothing more than a cursory "does it crash" or "does it look okay". There's barely any check for abnormal API calls for the type of app it has. They have no restrictions on uploading your content or information to timbuktoo. Remember the day when a flashlight app had a DNS and DHCP server built in because tethe
          • Hmm, logging in seems to have removed all the line breaks in my post lol WOAH. You actually think they review the source code for the app store? No offence, but are you the least bit educated about the product you're pedestaling? The review for the apps store is nothing more than a cursory "does it crash" and "does it look okay". There's barely any check for abnormal API calls for the type of app it has. They have no restrictions on uploading your content or information to timbuktoo. Remember the day wh

  • Comment removed (Score:3)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday November 21, 2019 @11:09AM (#59439212)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Punished for repeating publicly available information???

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by zekica ( 1953180 )
      It is not publicly available. You sign an agreement when you sign up for a developer account where you are forbidden from sharing the information gathered from the code you get access to.

      I don't like it but that is the way it is.

  • His Own Fault (Score:3)

    by Vandil X ( 636030 ) on Thursday November 21, 2019 @12:23PM (#59439616)
    I'm not an Apple apologist, but let's break it down simply:

    No one forced him to code software for Apple products. He chose to do this, and in doing so, he chose to be bound by the rules of the development environment required to develop software for Apple products.

    He then subsequently and willingly violated the rules he agreed to for having access to that development environment, and got banned.

    This is a standard Risk Assessment failure for him. Hopefully he learns from this bad judgment and improves his professional life for future endeavors.

  • Ya think??

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • so developers are subject to this kind of tool embargo!!!

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