Warning against counterfeit software on Apple store

The Macintosh App Store has a problem with Counterfeit software, according to developer Wolfire. The company added a game called Lugaru HD last month, and this was quickly followed by a title called ‘Lugaru', a pirated version uploaded by another developer and charging only a tenth of the price.

The company have emailed Apple about the problem, but has said that nothing has yet been done about the illegal software. Apparently Apple are yet to even respond about the matter. The ‘pirate' developer iCoder hasn't responded to emails, but has spoken with Kotaku, saying that “every legal right to market and sell the software,” since a license allegedly grants it “non-exclusive redistribution of the source code or the compiled product, modified or unmodified, for a fee or free of charge.”

This GPL license accompanies the source code release of the game. Wolfire have said that this license makes it obvious that all the rights to Lugaru HD's content are reserved, even if the code framework is now open source. Wolfire's Jeffrey Rosen said “It's as legal for them to sell Lugaru as it would be for them to sell Quake 3, Marathon, Aquaria, or Arx Fatalis. That is to say, it is completely illegal.”

KitGuru says: iOS App Store has always had issues with illegal software, and Apple needs to step up the monitoring of these apps.

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