http://gigaom.com/2011/02/24/google-pulls-voicemail-app-in-possible-in-app-payment-move/
"In a move that could signal Google is taking a hard line on in-app payments similar to the way Apple has outlined new subscription rules, Google has pulled the popular Visual VoiceMail app from Android Market, citing a violation of the developer payment rules. The details of the violation aren’t completely clear, but the developer believes the app, which has had one million downloads on Android, was targeted for not processing in-app payments through Google Checkout." The article cites section 3.3 of the Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement as being the cause of the removal: "…If you want to collect fees after the free trial expires, you must collect all fees for the full version of the Product through the Payment Processor on the Market. In this Agreement, 'free' means there are no charges or fees of any kind for use of the Product. All fees received by Developers for Products distributed via the Market must be processed by the Market’s Payment Processor." The app seems to be giving a way a shell for free, then charging for all the interesting features: "Visual VoiceMail is a free app, but it makes money using premium features like voicemail transcription, ad-free service and the ability to receive faxes through a dedicated number. PhoneFusion runs those extra purchases through its own website similar to how Amazon links to its own site for Kindle purchases." Is this an attempt to remove competition for Google services? “'The bottom line is, they said it doesn’t matter what the situation is; the only thing we can do is upload again,' said Jonathan Hollander, EVP of PhoneFusion. 'We lose 20,000 comments and all the 5-star ratings and the name Visual VoiceMail; we lose everything. This is absolutely vindictive, that’s insane.' Hollander wonders if PhoneFusion is being singled out because it competes with Google’s Android voicemail system and with Google Voice." Whatever the case may be, the argument for choosing (or at least including) a "platform without a platform vendor" (to quote Dave Winer<http://scripting.com/stories/2008/09/13/whyIphoneIsAnUreliablePlat.html>), be it Apple, Google or Oracle, seems to get stronger every day. Moandji -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" 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/javaposse?hl=en.
