#1 App 'Tris' To Be Removed From App Store Due To Copyright Claim

[Edward Kirk]

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College student Noah Witherspoon recently announced some unfortunate news. His free Tetris-esque game <em>Tris</em> is currently the top most popular free app in the App Store, but it seems it's popularity drew the attention of the Tetris® Company, and they are claiming a "copyright" claim on the game and are forcing him to take it down by Wednesday, August 27th. <!--break-->

Noah writes in his <a href="http://twofingerplay.blogspot.com/2008/08/over-for-now.html" target="_blank">blog</a>:
<blockquote>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.</blockquote>

Other apps have been removed from the App Store for various reasons, but (unless I'm mistaken) this makes the first time that we've heard about an app that's going to be removed before it happens. So, even if you're unsure about if you really need it or not, we suggest everyone remotely interested in <em>Tris</em> to go ahead and download it before it's gone.

You can download <em>Tris</em> in the <a href="http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=287598982&mt=8" target="_blank">App Store</a>.
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[Beast]

It was only a matter of time.

[Michael DeLisi]

I saw this coming the day that it was released. Tetris is better than Tris, but Tris was still a great game. It was one of my favorites from Installer.

[Stephen007]

Quite odd to get a heads up ahead of time where you still have time to download it from the App store.

[Kevin Dunahee]

Quite odd to get a heads up ahead of time where you still have time to download it from the App store.

Yeah, I thought that was weird, too. Oh well, I downloaded it now. I miss the Tetris music though... :(

Scrabulous, Tetris...what's next?

[Brian C]

Copyright infringment, it's not just a bad idea - it's against the law. It looks like there are a number of trademarks registered by the Tetris Company that "Tris" is infringing upon.

Where on earth do people get the idea that it's okay to steal the intellectual property of others? I am also not impressed by Mr. Witherspoon's martyr-like statement. The Tetris Company has done nothing to him. They simply reacted to his stealing from them (as federal law requires them to or they risk losing control of their brand). It sounds like they are either being rather nice by serving only a C&D or that Mr. Witherspoon (and Apple Inc.) can expect some further correspondence to talk about damages.

Rather than mocking the claims of intellectual property holder, perhaps iphonealley.com would be performing more of a service by using this as a cautionary tale to help others avoid infringing. Getting all of your facts from a college student who has already demonstrated questionable judgement just seems like a bad idea.

[Stephen007]

[snip]I think you make several very valid & good points.

I think that many of us, myself included, have trouble thinking of something like this as "stealing", however. We all understand that me taking your Snickers bar and eating it is wrong & is theft but many of us have trouble when it comes to "intellectual property" because it doesn't relate to our everyday lives. It's ethereal, not physical. If I download a bootleg video game that I never would have purchased is that theft? According to the law it is. But if I really wouldn't have purchased it, so seemingly no one is harmed, it gets into a little grey area... at least for me.

I have trouble with the idea of artificial restrictions. My Xbox only played games. But with some hackery it suddenly can play digital movies, songs & show pictures. I've violated something or other that told me I couldn't do that. My iPhone didn't allow movie recording but (more hackery) now it does. My TiVo allows me to skip thru commercials, the business model that television is based on. Is that theft from the networks and sponsors?

I don't know. I'm just rambling. I know that you are right but somehow I don't always get it or agree.