UPDATE: Google’s response, with commentary from Casey.
According to sibling site Android Central, Google has sent a cease & desist order to well-known Android custom ROM maker, CyanogenMod.
Google is not happy that CyanogenMod is distributing closed source Android applications like Gmail, Android Market, YouTube, etc. [...] CyanogenMod explains that he’s not breaking any copyright issues because he develops specifically for Google Experience devices (G1 & myTouch 3G), devices that already include said closed source applications.
Casey asks if this could be a sign of Google finding their inner evil. We re-hash our own cliche: any company sufficiently powerful is indistinguishable from evil. It’s just that Apple (and Microsoft) tend to get called on it more.
But, hey, if any clever Android modders want to port that Gmail app over to the iPhone Jailbreak community, we promise we won’t object…
We mentioned yesterday that the Canadian Government was poised to bring down the DMCA hammer on us humble citizens, handing the reins of power more overtly than ever to Big Media and Big Telco.
Not so, says the Government, listing off ways in which their new bill is mildly less offensive than it’s American progenitor, but I’m struck by what they don’t mention. Will cell phone unlocking, including iPhone 3G unlocking, be made illegal? And what about DVD ripping? Can I not take a movie I pay money for and put it into iTunes so I can watch it on my new iPhone 3G? And why, to balance the rights you’re stripping from Canadians, have you not long ago introduced a bill to prevent GSM monopolies in the telco industry from charging Canadians among the highest prices in the world for data?
How about that?
(Read on for the full text of the Canadian Government’s preemptive email blast)
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