This guy has shown quite a talent for self-sabotage. Apple was willing to reinstate him if he'd undo some of the PR damage he'd created by spelling out that he shared the credit card with someone, and that maybe that's not the best idea.<p>Instead, he was enjoying the spotlight so much, he used the opportunity to escalate further, even publishing his phone call with Apple (illegal on one side of that conversation at least).<p>And that narrative includes a healthy dose of goodwill, considering how close to "the dog ate it" that story about the family friend is. A friend who apparently also didn't own any Apple hardware, so they shared that as well.<p>But open sourcing the useless iOS app is apparently a bad idea because his customers don't know how to work XCode, which strikes me as counterintuitive, considering every single one of his customers bought programmer-centric software for Mac.
I was rooting for him really, because I myself am also at times very frustrated with how Apple treats developers.<p>But I've lost trust in this guy after reading his blog posts and especially the phone call he published.<p>The only reason I can think of why the phone call took over 7 minutes is because he wanted to record it and publish it. Really. If you summarize the phone call. It's basically Apple asking him to publish that his account was indeed linked with the fraud account (not even that he's the one who committed the fraud) and he's working with Apple to resolve it, and rest is this dash guy complaining on and on which is completely unnecessary since Apple already knows that and is saying they understand and want to work with him to "make this right" (The Apple guy literally said "make this right").<p>Also it is very hard to believe at this point that a "relative" did all this. If I--or any normal person--was in the same situation (I am paying for a relative's developer account with my own credit card with my device and turns out that the relative is committing a fraud), my first reaction would NOT be telling Apple "This has nothing to do with me", but "I had no idea, I am still pissed that you guys didn't notify me, but I also understand your position and will talk to my relative to make sure this doesn't happen. After all, <i>I</i> am the one funding this fraud regardless of whether I was aware or not aware.")
There feels like no right side in this story.<p>* Apple terminated both accounts because of fraudulent activity, but only one account was contacted to let them know of this activity.<p>* Kapeli shared financial information and test devices with this other account, whether it was a relative or not.<p>* Apple said "Hey, write a post telling the whole story and all will be cleared. Just don't say we were at fault."<p>* Kapeli agreed he would draft and send. Kapeli apparently did but never heard back.<p>* Apple had a spokesperson come out that painted a different a picture that basically seem to throw Kapeli under the bus.
Ok, so you get a call from Apple that tells you to write a blog post and they will restore your account. You submit the draft blog post. Then, a respected Apple SVP comes out and calls you a criminal and Apple doesn't reply to the draft. What do you do?
This whole thing has taught me a lesson. I initially sided with the weaker side because I own a copy of Dash, and it is great software, and because one tends to side with the underdog.<p>After listening to the recording of the conversation, my feeling is that Apple is handling this in a very fair and professional way, and that I was too quick to take sides. I think it is not unreasonable to assume that: same credit card + same hardware = same developer.
I find it quite discouraging to see so many harsh sentiments towards the developer. Everything that he did and the publicly stated reasons behind them are plausible. In my view the data so far indicate that he played by the rules. In particular he did a charitable thing to pay somebody else’s Developer Program Membership and donate a device, which there is no rule against.<p>Apple on its side have followed its script which also seems to be entirely plausible and in good faith. However, their course of action does apparently not cover the corner case of contacting all account owners to linked accounts before shutting them down. The agreement allows for third party account payment albeit with some slight inconveniences. In addition, the rules for account linking, and it’s very existence is hidden from the developer party, so (s)he has no responsibility to relate to it, or whatever else is outside of the agreement.<p>People may not like the style the developer has done his part. Nevertheless his story is plausible and consistent, however improbable. Recording phone calls without consent of the other party may be legal in his country; I know it is in mine.<p>Apple has been caught with its pants down but because of the immense power imbalance, the developer, trough no fault of his own, is set to suffer with no recourse, unless there are stings attached. I find it infuriating that he has to do anything at all to set straight a problem he did not cause.<p>From this point whatever bad publicity Apple has incurred they have only them selves to blame. They should at least reverse the account lock, and for reestablishing whatever lost public confidence at a minimum produce an apology for the inconvenience.<p>This is how I understand it from what I have read so far. If any new indications appear to make me change my mind I may do so.
I feel bad for this developer. He's clearly quite driven, and that might have inspired his family to reach for the same success. And wanting to help, he gave his card, and now his program has been terminated.<p>I'll keep using Dash, but I hope the dev will clear himself out from someone that is not helping.
This is hilarious:<p><pre><code> My preferred solution would be for a fellow developer to get it
back on the App Store, as a free app.
</code></pre>
Especially because:<p><pre><code> Open sourcing doesn’t look like a good solution at this time,
as most of my users are not iOS developers and are not familiar
with compiling an app for their devices.
</code></pre>
I may be missing something but the author cannot open source the app, but expects a <i>fellow developer</i> to get it on the App Store as a free app. Can the <i>fellow developer</i> pick up the existing app (binary?) and upload it on the app store?
I14n is fun — to watch for the audience.<p>Apple behaves as if everyone has a credit card and the mapping from credit card to (legal) person is unique. That isn't so in Romania and Apple's heuristics go boom.<p>The same assumption shows up again a little later in the imbroglio: Apple asked him to admit some sort of wrongdoing, however gently, because credit card maps to person to the person they spoke to carries some responsibility, etc. Bogdan rejected, because credit card doesn't map to person and giving someone $25 isn't wrong.
Apple has known this fraud reviews for a long while, we are talking about 1000s and a time line of two years. I am wondering Apple would normally have terminated the account long ago if DASH wasn't a popular app.<p>I read a lot of the previous HN thread saying Apple blackmailing him. This point would be correct if you consider Apple was wrong, and this Guy borrowing his credit card AND account to this "relative" ( Which we still dont know if he/she exist ) committing Fraud bare ZERO responsibility for himself.<p>This is like iFixit tearing up the new AppleTV before NDA and being cocky about it.<p>I mean seriously, what the hell is wrong with these people?
Weird that i find out about this here - wonder if he's able to send an email to Mac Store purchasers like myself. Regardless, i migrated my license, and all seems to be working now.<p>Glad the issue didn't impact me too negatively, and i hope this is true for most of his customers.
A lot of people here are switching over to Apple's side, but I wouldn't be so quick to throw Kapeli under the bus.<p>Imagine this scenario:<p>You buy your cousin a fancy sword for his birthday one year, which he later uses as a murder weapon against his girlfriend. The police look up the serial number and see that although it's registered under your cousin's name, your credit card was used to purchase it.<p>They arrest your cousin, give him a fair trial, convict him of murder, and place him on death row. You're not in touch with your cousin, so you are completely oblivious to everything which has happened. At this point, SWAT officers storm your home and arrest you, refusing to tell you why. You're thrown in a cell and told you have been placed you on death row, and that their decision is final and can’t be appealed.<p>Your only saving grace is the fact that you happen to be mildly influential in a small community with ties to the government, and you're able to get your side of the story out.<p>Articles are written about you. People are outraged at the government. Others come forward to tell of their dead relatives who had been wrongly executed as well.<p>The Attorney General reads one of these articles and scrambles to do PR damage control.<p>Se has her aid call you and demand that you make a public statement saying that The Government did nothing wrong, that you were the one who purchased the weapon so they were justified in their actions, and that they are so graciously working with you to clear your name. Of course, they completely ignore the part about their negligence and what would have happened if you were just some no-name.<p>---<p>I believe Apple desperately needs to change their policies. These statements like "We can't provide you with any more information.", "This decision is final.", and lack of communication are wrong. Sure, they are a private company and have the legal right to remove anything from their platform at any time for any reason without any notice or explanation, but that doesn't mean that their actions should be supported and endorsed by the communities of users and developers.<p>Their actions should have consequences in the form of diminished trust, which may be the straw the breaks the camel's back in many developer's and user's choices to continue developing for and using their platform.<p>I will say that it was not smart of Kapeli to publish the phone call; at least not yet. He should have waited a bit longer, and only published it if Apple didn't follow through on their word. However, I still believe Apple is in the wrong here, and Kapeli's only real crime is that of naivety.
I've only just run across this. It looks like the story here is:<p>1. Guy publishes paid app to iTunes<p>2. App is really good, gets a ton of good reviews<p>3. Apple decides those reviews must be fraudulent, and pulls his app from the store and tells the guy he has to publicly admit that he committed review fraud to get his app reinstated.<p>4. People who have bought the app can't download it, guy can't do anything to make his own app available anymore without making a false confession and harming his own reputation.<p>This sort of heavy-handed-but-uncareful approach to "curation" is consistent with my experience publishing to the iOS app store.