Apparently "open source group" means "high maintenance and unprofessional goalpost-shifters who suffer the delusion that they are in charge".
The fact that Apple created this economic space, doesn't give it the right to behave like a feudal overlord might have behaved in the Middle Ages.
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It's very much a case of 'who watches the watchmen'.
An independent complaints or regulatory commission needs to be established which can be used to lodge complaints about unfair action within any privately created IP-focused marketplace. I believe that laws should be introduced to ensure that Apple (and Google / Blackberry etc.) would have to subscribe to any guidelines put forth by such a body.
1. They are not buying products for resale - they are providing a marketplace for other businesses to sell their own products.
2. The products that are created for the iOS AppStore cannot be sold anywhere else.
Content creators can't vote with their feet - they're tied to using Apple's system. They have to invest in very specific technologies to participate in the Apple ecosystem. This creates a situation where Apple is provided with an unwarranted amount of power.
Whether you agree with me or not - I strongly believe measures will be put in place which attempt to rectify the situation.
Content creators can't vote with their feet - they're tied to using Apple's system.
Point 1 still stands but point 2 does not since it's too restrictive to be applied to the debate.
A couple of questions;
1. Could an application developer make a living by selling their Apps via the alternative mechanisms - and would a regular (non-technical) user, be able to obtain these Apps without much effort?
2. Could Apple decide to 'outlaw' these alternatives if it chose to?
iOS and the AppStore are popular for many reasons some of which have a lot to do with the Content Creators who are publishing there. It is not however the only marketplace and Creators have other choices.
There is only one marketplace [for iOS applications] ...
2. The products that are created for the iOS AppStore cannot be sold anywhere else.
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There are multiple commercial marketplaces available for Android - so I don't think highlighting the Apple AppStore is necessarily a needless restriction.
Apple didn't change their terms to exclude VLC or GPL. A developer (not VLC) put together the iOS version of the app, and, being fully aware of the terms of the App Store, the model of distribution, the use of DRM, and the likely incompatibilities with GPL submitted the app to Apple.
Blaming Apple for this is completely wrongheaded. It's essentially a disagreement between a VLC developer and the developer of the iOS app.
You might have a point if Apple had changed their terms after the app was submitted in order to exclude the app.
If anything, they loosened their terms to remove incompatibilities.
The iOS app developer screwed up. You should be calling for a regulatory commission to prevent developers from doing stupid things with GPL-licensed code like making business decisions that require abusing GPL.