The FTC took up the case in April when Apple announced its new terms of service for iOS 4 and included the now fateful statement:
only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited)
The main corporate and the big loser was Adobe. Since its newly launched Flash Professional Creative Suite 5 contained a dedicated packager for the iPhone that was now prohibited by Apple’s TOS. After Anti-Flash policy by Steve Jobs Adobe responded by suspending development on both this Packager application and Flash for the iPhone.
Shortly after this saga, both the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg reported that Abode filed a complaint with the FTC over this new Anti-flash policy. The FTC refused to comment but their investigation into the matter was all but confirmed in August after the FTC cited the “the Commission’s law enforcement activities” when it denied Wired access to Adobe’s 200-page filing.
Earlier this week, Apple paved way for relaxation of rules and policy due to day to day increase in popularity of Android OS.
Whatever the reason, it is a significant about-face, especially when you consider the strong words of Steve Jobs when he defended the original ban back in April:
We know from painful experience that letting a third party layer of software come between the platform and the developer ultimately results in sub-standard apps and hinders the enhancement and progress of the platform.
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