GetJar: Apple are "taking the piss" with App Store legal threats

Free app distributors GetJar have issued a no-holds barred response to Apple, following the cease and desist order the Cupertino iPhone makers sent out over the use of the words “app store”.

Apple, who have sent similar legal threats to Amazon, are claiming ownership of the “app store” phrase. And while GetJar do not use the words in their strapline or branding, have used the phrase in descriptive terms since 2009.

However, GetJar look set to stand tall against Apple’s threats, which they claim are “taking the piss”.

“The ecosystem as a whole is becoming increasingly closed. It’s character is dictated by larger companies exercising excessive force to get bigger shares of the pie,” says GetJar CMO Patrick Mork in a scathing and hilarious blog post.

“For example, Android was supposed to be FREE and open; yet developers can’t choose their billing solution. They have their price points micro-managed for them without input.

“If Apple isn’t suing Amazon, it’s suing start-ups. Now Microsoft, who is struggling to gain traction with Windows Mobile, is charging OEM’s for using Android using our country’s broken patent system. Where are all of these law suits and threats getting us? Is anyone actually worrying about whether app developers and content providers make enough money to keep the lights on?

“In conclusion, GetJar won’t be subject to this kind of bullying. We’re not going to “Cease & Desist”. We were here long before Steve & Co. We were built by developers, to help developers. Not to help sell handsets or search results. In the words of Twisted Sister: We’re not going to take it! Steve Jobs isn’t our Dad.“