The scam app on itunes This is looking so bad for all iOS developers. A totally scam app named "Plants vs Zombies 2: Zombie Bible" hit the appstore on 1st April. It's approved. And probably have sold many copies. What were appstore reviewers doing? They really like allowing this kind of scam to hit the store? I understand there are probably 100+ scam website trying to fool people with "plants vs zombie 2". After all WWW is a free for all place. When it comes down to appstore, a marketplace that's under certain review guideline and all apps need to be approved first, this is unacceptable. You can find these rules clearly stated in the appstore review guideline: "Apps which appear confusingly similar to an existing Apple product or advertising theme will be rejected." "Apps that duplicate apps already in the App Store may be rejected, particularly if there are many of them." "We have over 250,000 apps in the App Store. We don't need any more Fart apps." Do you think the scam pvz2 is not violating any of the rules above? What's the reason to allow those kind of scam app hit the store?
So is this not even a game? Legal Notice / Disclaimer: =========== This guide is an unofficial version and is not endorsed by or affiliated with the creator of this video game or its licensors. This application complies with the US Copyright law guidelines of "fair use". All images were cropped with lower resolution and used only to convey what the application is about. All characters, their names, places, and other aspects of the video game described within this application are trademarked by their respective owners. This application does not copy any portion of the game, nor does it contain screenshots of the game, only original text descriptions. If you feel there is a direct copyright or trademark violation that doesn't follow within the "fair use" guidelines. How does this make it alright?
wow.. blatant trademark violation.. but nobody can stop them, unless the maker of plants vs zombie report the violatons
they have something similar but for cut the rope!I can't believe the cut the rope walkthrough app costs more than the actual game)
I didn't even pay attention to this thing. Yeah, sounds like it's not even a game. Even if the product itself is some sort of "fair use", it still should be blocked from hitting the market because it's a bloody scam.
What's with that last review there on the App Store?! The "Get a life" one. It gives it 5 stars and then calls it out as being a scam (facepalm)
this sucks especially when ur competing for ranks Apple has got to do something this is the reason iOS is supposed to be better than android
People are stupid. Why would you buy plants vs. zombies 2 if it's not from PopCap? sigh... Though I don't think this falls under fair use at all: Number 4 is obviously a blatant violation. Whether this gets removed depends on how much PopCap cares.
Why would you buy Angry Birds game that didn't come from Clickgame.com ? sigh... Remember that 99% of people know very little about the market and have no idea who makes which game Still - approving this "thing" shows what kind of people work in the review board. Seeing it available after almost a week makes it a lot worse
I've been following this developer for a while (and his other two accounts: " Freebird Digital Entertainment" and "Angry Sticks"), and they are complete scammers. Here's only some of the proof: 1) These apps are only videos, but they are sold and marketed as games. Most in the games category. http://appshopper.com/games/kill-spartan http://appshopper.com/games/all-in-1-stick-hero-usa http://appshopper.com/entertainment/crazy-stick-8-in-1 http://appshopper.com/entertainment/6-in-1-stick-box http://appshopper.com/entertainment/stick-ninja 2) An example of previous stolen content, brought down by this owner and his friends: http://forums.deletionquality.net/showthread.php/11149-Help-me-out.-Castle-stolen-put-on-iTunes.?s 3) Their "guides" are all stolen from gamezebo.com. They were busted on this but because they don't live in the US, not much can be done. After complaints to Apple, the most they have done is make minor changes to the wording. http://appshopper.com/reference/trade-nations-cheats-guide-and-walkthrough-hd http://appshopper.com/reference/tap-resort-cheats-guide-and-walkthrough 4) They use the exact same icon as popular games, but only put a small "UTLD" at the bottom. This seems quite deceiving to me, and reviews for many of their titles have users complaining they thought it was the game. http://appshopper.com/reference/ramps-ultd-cheats http://appshopper.com/reference/flight-control-hd-cheats-and-walkthrough 5) They have released a bunch of "more ____!" apps, running off the success of "more cupcakes!". Too bad they are just a few pictures: http://appshopper.com/entertainment/more-seafood http://appshopper.com/entertainment/more-ice-cream Really I am not sure how Apple allows these developers to remain in the store.
Gotta love that link to the developer website (and customer support)...totally fake links. So if a user buys any one of the listed apps...and there are a ton (@Nicias only listed key pickings from the huge list of scam apps available) and then wants to contact the seller, they're out of luck.
aaaaaaaaa pisses me off! Apple make it hard for genuine devs whenever they feel like it by rejecting games for stupidly obscure reasons and then let this shit happen over and over and over again.
Indeed, all they did to the scam apps is removing them from the store if it's reported by the original developer. That is nothing. The scam maker can do this all year. Steal something, sell it for a couple of days, then move on to another miserable target. Removing the scam from the appstore is not even a punishment. It takes time to notice the scam and even you report immediately, it still takes several days to redirect the report. By the time they remove the scam, it already sold enough copies to be "successful". I'm wondering if apple can be sued for selling copyrighted stuff, if they decide it's fine to allow scam maker stealing from all over the world.
Just saw another gem - it's called 3dgoldenmine, costs a whopping 6.99$ and is available here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/3dgoldenmine/id430350440?mt=8 For those that don't see it yet - check out that link for Penelope tech demo by Unity (4th screenshot says it all): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/penelope/id319115383?mt=8
I usually refrain from insults because I feel it lowers the validity of my argument, but in this case it's true; These people are assholes.
Timing What is the 'review' process of scam apps? I mean once it's been reported how long until Apple actually pulls it?
"I must infringe, it's in my blood!" - "developer" Paul Hau, discussing the wars over software IP. Some people are born to create. Others, to copy. Sometimes, you get an absolutely original and brilliant game that is still technically "infringing" (I'm thinking of Pokemon Tower Defense on Android...pulled in record time, but perhaps the single most unique and enjoyable title on the platform)...and sometimes you get, well, this. : (
as crappy as this may be, its pretty clever to get that buck. Of course I frown upon it. The interweb is full of p*rn and scams. This being the latter.
F-in REDICULOUS! Problems like this will lead to the downfall of the App Store. I can't believe that Apple allows this crap to pass review.
How does the apple approve of these apps just a basic search on the name of the app will show its a complete scam / rip off ... Is there a way to report an app within the itunes store?