Apple Drops an N Bomb

But not what you think. Apple announced today that they are dropping their NDA on their iPhone software to allow developers to have more flexibility:

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.

I think Apple is underestimating Microsoft’s and other’s determination to copy its software. I am sure even with the NDA in place Microsoft was looking for ways to borrow from Apple, so I am glad that Apple has finally seen the logic and decided to drop the NDA restriction.