Though Apple has remained protective of its closed iPhone ecosystem ever since its release, Android may be forcing the company to relax its iron grip just a bit. On Wednesday, the company posted an update to its developer’s page announcing that it would drop the non-disclosure agreement imposed on its developers – presumably to keep them from jumping ship to the more open Android platform.
According to Apple, the original NDA existed to keep the iPhone’s innovations from being “ripped off by others,” but as interest in the platform grew, the moratorium on developer discussion became a hassle. The Pragmatic Programmers, for instance, had to nix a book due to legal issues with the NDA, a book that has since surfaced in the wake of the NDA removal.
