Apple ban on counterfeit and clone apps

Apple appears to have deleted a range of App Store games that were found to be infringing on copyright law as well as unethically duplicating popular game designs.

The US App Store has removed counterfeit apps such as Plant vs Zombie, Angry Ninja Birds and Temple Jump, according to news site TechCrunch. The clones no longer appear on the UK App Store.

Apple has not explained how such titles were approved and published on its digital platform. Some of these plagiarised apps have previously sold their way to the top of the App Store chart.

Many of the clones were developed by indie coder Anton Sinelnikov. It is claimed he had published nearly 70 iOS apps. At the time of writing, Sinelnikov has just nine apps left.

The issue of App Store cloning was thrown back into the spotlight after it was alleged that Zynga had duplicated the popular free-to-play mobile game Tiny Tower.

Meanwhile, Spry Fox is suing 6Waves Lolapps for apparently plagiarising the popular puzzle title Triple Town.

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Further Reading:

Game cloning in the age of social metrics and deregulated platforms