[peterkelly]

This happened to me recently, and it seems to be a very large scale problem on the app store. In my case there were three different copies of my app (UX Write) on the app store, under the names "Document Master", "Word Touch", and "Word to Go".

The only reason I found out about them was that in all three cases, there had been some extra resource files included for some unknown reason (likely from another app), which for a very obscure reason were causing the app to crash. I was receiving hundreds of emails containing crash logs and noticed that the process name was different, which is what tipped me off. The fact that all three had the same set of extra files (and all said "Document master" in the modified documentation file) suggested it was either three developers working together, or one developer with three separate accounts.

I found it extremely difficult to get this problem addressed. I contacted Apple and was asked to fill out a form on their website about the apps, and then their legal team just sent an email to the other "developers" asking if they owned copyright. None of the developers responded, and the legal team did nothing. Several more phone calls to the developer relations team left the problem unresolved.

I only managed to get the copies taken down eventually when I was at WWDC and took the opportunity to meet in person with two representatives from the app store team and show them the original & copies. They immediately recognised it was a clear-cut case, and removed the infringing apps within a couple of days.

I think there are some very straightforward technical solutions to this - the submission process could take hashes of all files in a new upload and check them for matches in a database of hashes of all files from all apps, with any matching apps flagged for further inspection. It amazes me this isn't done, especially given the reputation the app store has for being strict about political/sexual content etc. I've seen a ton of copied apps on the store; it's just ridiculous.

[dalore]

If it was such a clear-cut then why did you need to meet them in person to show them?

[peterkelly]

I think it was a matter of them not having actually checked the apps themselves, and that their process was just to shovel everything off to the legal dept.

Someone else made a comment here about Apple not wanting to get in the middle of copyright disputes (particularly for cases that aren't so obvious). So that's probably why they don't have a process in place to have someone actually look at the apps. Developers have to chase it up themselves, which is annoying.

[RyJones]

So black duck, sort of. http://www.blackducksoftware.com/products