While this really has never been a secret, it seems as if the report by Wired last month on the booming industry of selling access to iOS developer betas has woken Apple. Apple offers these developer betas to registered iOS developers, with a price tag of $99/year. Over the past few years however more and more developers have started selling their 100 possible device slots to users looking to install the iOS betas prior to their official launch.
Now however MacStories have reported that multiple unofficial UDID activation sites have been taken down by Apple. They spoke with one owner of one of these sites who replied that Apple had recently filed a DMCA request with the associated host provider.
In the email, the site owner said that their website made $75,000 since last June, when Apple released the first beta of iOS 6 to developers. “We do not believe our service was infringing and our services did not violate their guidelines for iOS 6?, the site owner commented, adding that they will soon launch another similar site, “with better and more secure data lines to handle Apple”.
Some readers might remember that Apple reacted in a similar fashion after sites started selling iOS 5 betas last summer, however it seems as if this time around Apple is taking a much more direct approach.
For those wondering if selling access to Apple OS betas is really wrong, once you read Apple’s warning in the iOS Provisioning Portal, there really can’t be any doubt:
Your iOS Developer Program membership can be terminated if you provide pre-release Apple Software to anyone other than employees, contractors, and members of your organization who are registered as Apple Developers and have a demonstrable need to know or use Apple Software in order to develop and test applications on your behalf. Unauthorized distribution of Apple Confidential Information (including pre-release Apple Software) is prohibited and may subject you to both civil and criminal liability.
