Your definition of a free market seems to not be in-line with most (e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_market).
A free market ensures that the relevant existing laws are complied with followed and that's pretty much it (most legal systems include laws for property protection). As Wikipedia points out a free market is "free of private force" which is what anti-monopoly laws are aimed to protect by attempting to ensure that a single organisation can not artificially adjust the market. What Google are doing with their interventions on behalf of T-Mobile to enforce T-Mobiles contractual terms with T-Mobiles customers has no place in a free market. It would be like a candy store refusing to sell Coke just because a parent had told their child they shouldn't drink it. The distribution of Android applications is a free market because no one company can stop you posting your app to any website that will take it, but Googles Android Market is not because they do interfere in what's made available. Al. P.S. In my view tethering does not breach the term you quoted because I am allowed to access the T-Mobile network for the transmission of data and tethering just allows me to change the device that I use to make use of that agreement rather than changing what I do with the network. --- * Written an Android App? - List it at http://andappstore.com/ * ====== Funky Android Limited is registered in England & Wales with the company number 6741909. The registered head office is Kemp House, 152-160 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX, UK. The views expressed in this email are those of the author and not necessarily those of Funky Android Limited, it's associates, or it's subsidiaries. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mark Murphy Sent: 12 April 2009 22:20 To: [email protected] Subject: [android-discuss] Re: Google competing with devs... > If the Android Market is a free market, why was a tethering > application pulled at the behest of TMobile for TMobile customers > only? A free market does not necessarily mean a rule-free market. Generally speaking, the freedom of a market is a point on a continuum from "anarchy" to "authoritarian". The Android Market is further down the path to "anarchy" than is, say, the iPhone App Store. A tethering application, in the eyes of T-Mobile, "interferes with, disrupts, damages, or accesses in an unauthorized manner the devices, servers, networks, or other properties or services of any third party". In this case the "third party" is T-Mobile. The quoted passage is from the Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement: http://www.android.com/us/developer-distribution-agreement.html > Can carriers simply ask for any application to be removed from the > market? They can ask, and the burden of proof should be on them that such an application violates the above terms. If, for example, T-Mobile felt that farting applications were uncouth, they could ask Google to get rid of them from the Market. Unless farting applications are demonstrated to violate the above terms, I sincerely hope Google will tell T-Mobile to go pound sand. Only time will tell. -- Mark Murphy (a Commons Guy) http://commonsware.com _The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development_ Version 2.0 Available! --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Discuss" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
