Comments on: StoneLoops! of Jurassica Pulled from App Store Due to Copyright Complaint?

By: Edgar

Edgar — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:21:11 +0000

GOD! Stone loops was 10 times better than LUXOR. Please make an agreetment cuz i dont want Stone loops, I NEED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: Retrospects

Retrospects — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:35:56 +0000

This sucks cause my gf had almost beat the game. This is the first and only app she bought. Well I upgraded our phones to 3.1.2 yesterday and stoneloops was not on her phone. So she is freaking out and I’m trying to find it to redownload.. Sp I google and find this. Bummer  oh well thank god for jailbreak! Now she just has to start over 

By: Michael Denney

Michael Denney — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:01:14 +0000

I am just happy that StoneLoops is still on both of my iPhones and it’s unfortunate that at least for the time being nobody else will be able to get a copy of such a great game.

By: Christopher cox

Christopher cox — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:20:42 +0000

@oboewan: When Sharp decided to pull out of the PDA market in the USA nobody expected a refund for the Zaurus units they spent hundreds of dollars on. They stopped selling. So what? You still have your purchase just like I had my Zaurus for a while. Stop whining.

By: Oboewan

Oboewan — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:49:04 +0000

@Christopher It’s the principle of it. And I don’t want the Stoneloops devs to give me my money back – I want MumboJumbo to give me back the money I spent on the app that THEY got taken down.

By: Christopher cox

Christopher cox — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:07:48 +0000

@oboewan: if you are concerned about getting back a measly $1, then maybe you should spend your money on food rather than an iPhone because obviously you are hard up for money. I spend more than that skeeball and other games when I go to those places with my kids, and that only gives me 5 minutes of entertainment. How long have you had thrgame? And you still have it.

It is crazy to expect a $1 refund because of this.

By: dev

dev — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:31:06 +0000

@frog

No, they did not put the name of the competitor in the review. They put a review that mentioned the competitor in their description, which was not one of the "original charges." It is also perfectly acceptable to use competitors names and trademarks from reviews in advertisement, so long as the notices are present. Do you not remember all the Coke mentions in the Pepsi challenge?

If Stoneloops did use the name "Luxor" without mentioning the trademark notice, the long-established precedent for such a use is the removal of the offending mention, which has already been done. Occasionally, a fine can also be levied.

Even if you ignore precedent and insist this somehow is wrong and deserves a product death sentence, this is also another example of Apple applying made-up rules arbitrarily.

For just one example, when I search for "Skee-Ball" on the App Store, the competing apps Ramp Champ and Arcade Claw come up. (Unlike Luxor, Skee-Ball is a registered trademark name which Freeverse paid to use, so they actually have a far stronger case than does Luxor.)

So Apple obviously does nothing proactively about this, which means they are not actively reviewing apps for these violations, which should get them into trouble if, as Rene suggests, their guardianship of the App Store comes with responsibilities.

If they are only reacting, then Stoneloops accusation is true; developers can use Apple to remove competitors applications, and Apple offers no recourse, mediation, or reinstatement procedure communication.

Neither situation is good for Apple's role in the App Store.

By: Andy

Andy — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:54:14 +0000

so? who cares its not like they can take it out of our iPhones

By: fastlane

fastlane — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:00:24 +0000

That’s ridiculous! I’ve played both of these titles and StoneLoops is FAR superior to Luxor...

Has nothing to do with anything. Copyright doesn't protect that which Brandon C. Butler likes the most.

By: Brandon C. Butler

Brandon C. Butler — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:49:16 +0000

That’s ridiculous! I’ve played both of these titles and StoneLoops is FAR superior to Luxor, both gameplay-wise and graphically. I hope this little snafu doesn’t hinder other games that “play like” some other game/app. It’s not like Duck Hunt, which was DEFINITELY copyright infringement!