VLC app pulled from Apple iOS store

Andre Yoskowitz
8 Jan 2011 18:26

Apple has pulled the popular VLC media player application from the iOS App Store, following an argument over the GPL with VLC developer Rémi Denis-Courmont.
Denis-Courmont had filed a lawsuit against Apple in late 2010.

Under a standard GNU General Public License (GPL), VLC is available for Macs, Windows and Linux machines for free, and while it was free for iOS, the open-source nature of the application was compromised by Apple.
Says Free Software Federation's Brett Smith (via PCM):

The GPL gives Apple permission to distribute this software through the App Store. All they would have to do is follow the license's conditions to help keep the software free. Instead, Apple has decided that they prefer to impose Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) and proprietary legal terms on all programs in the App Store.

Denis-Courmont had charged Apple with copyright infringement in the suit filed October 26th, but the app remained in the store until yesterday.

Writes the developer of the decision (via VLC):

On January 7th, Apple removed VLC media player from its application store for iDevices. Thus the incompatibility between the GNU General Public License and the AppStore terms of use is resolved - the hard way. This end should not have come to a surprise to anyone, given the precedents.