Tris — game over, thanks to Apple
p2pnet news view Mobiles | Games:- Apple has turned corporate enforcer on behalf of Tetris, firing a ‘pull it or else’ order at 19-year-old student Noah Witherspoon from Atlanta, Georgia, the creator of an iPhone Tetris ‘touch’ clone called Tris.
“Well —- I’ve received notice from Apple that they’ve been contacted by The Tetris Company about Tris,” blogs Witherspoon.
And, ” That, I’m afraid, is essentially game over,” he says.
Do they have a case? Witherspoon doesn’t think so, saying he’s convinced if it went to court, the “copyright” claim would get thrown out completely.
“The trademark, perhaps not — but if I changed the name, to e.g. ‘Trys’, that would be much harder for them to argue,” he says, adding:
The trouble is, I’m a college student, and not an affluent one, and I simply do not have the time, energy, or resources to fight this battle right now.
There’s a point at which I am willing to give up and be practical, to let the world have its way with that ever-mistreated little ideal of ‘principle’. Thus, it’s with great sadness that I must announce that I’ll be pulling Tris from the App Store on Wednesday, August 27th, to remain in Apple’s systems but publicly unavailable until I work out a solution to this.
Witherspoon goes, “the approach they’re taking seems to me little more than petty bullying. They [Tetris] have little to no legitimate legal claim, and are, presumably, relying on my being a small developer with insufficient resources to defend myself. And – hey ho – it appears to be working. All I can suggest is that, if you have the slightest interest in playing Tris, you download it while you still can.
And he adds »»»
To clarify: if Apple had not told me they’d “take action” of their own if I didn’t resolve the “dispute”, Tris would be staying up. I don’t think this will be permanent; when I have the time and can find a good copyright lawyer, I’ll be figuring out exactly what my position is and how I can make Tris available again.
Notes MacNN, “The situation resembles a recent dispute over another application, NetShare, which was pulled due to conflicts with some wireless providers. The app allowed users to tether their iPhone to a computer for mobile internet service, which prompted complaints from carriers such as AT&T, who charge as much as $30 per month for a similar service.”
Click here for a download, and we have a copy here for if and when.
Good one, Apple.
blogs Witherspoon – Over, for now, August 25, 2008
MacNN – Apple pulls free Tetris clone from iTunes, August 26, 2008
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August 26th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I don’t understand what the big deal is with this one. I haven’t seen the game yet, but if it is a Tetris clone (or knockoff, or even similar), and it’s using a Tetris-like name, then of course it should be pulled. Jeez… after a while it really does turn into the inmates running the asylum, doesn’t it?
August 26th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
It’s anti-Apple articles like this that are starting to make me doubt accuracy of the reporting of other stories at P2Pnet. This is appears to be clear anti-Apple bias because their business tactics aren’t appreciated in one way or another, and in this case has almost nothing to do with Apple. They are simply the conduit of information from the holder of the rights to Tetris.
I’ve been a long time user of Windows (since 3.1) and buying the two Macs in the last year has been the best techy decision I have ever made. However I choose not to use iTunes, or iPods and buying DRMed (and therefore immediately obsolete) audio and video. I don’t have a Mobileme account, because I can get better and cheaper (free) elsewhere. I have a perfectly happy life with media on my Macs.
Apple may not be the golden child they once were, but they are completely blameless in this instance. The threats of legal action haven’t come from Apple, so please stop this tabloid journalism. It isn’t doing anybody any favours.
August 26th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
tris is a knock off. http://www.appleiphoneschool.com/2008/03/01/tris-04/
I would point out that “Electronic Arts owns the rights to publish Tetris on the iPhone”(more info needed) and sell at $9.99 tris is free so there is a direct loss of profit for both apple and the publisher.
So many other people have made copys of tetris what rights do electronic arts have?
August 28th, 2008 at 7:43 am
Thats what happens when you have a company that has absolute power over what software runs on their machines. How many tetris clones are available for free both on Mac and Windows?…