Apple has always stuck to a philosophy of closeness, probably something which is a cornerstone of the wild success of Apple products. However, while the company has been really insistent on guarding its hardware, it has been a tad bit lax when it comes to its software. But that may be changing now.
For long, Apple would first release an operating system beta release to such developers who actually pay Apple. Other consumers would have to wait for a while before they could lay their hands on it.
However, some decided to make the most of this opportunity and as soon as they would lay their hands on the beta release, they would start selling it to others. Given the sheer amount of users of Apple products, this kind of business was bound to be a success and it has been estimated that in some cases, beta release of iOS 6 alone have earned the seller six-figure sums.
But this may no longer be happening since Apple has reportedly started clamping down on such websites and companies who sell early access to beta releases. The charge that Apple is using to clamp down on them include copyright infringement. The company has been reaching out to hosting providers to shut down such websites which contain the early access beta releases.
Naturally, those who are in this business will try to circumvent the crack-down and spring up under newer names but if Apple has made it a policy to ban such sales, it may become virtually impossible to sell early-access beta releases eventually.
Courtesy: Engadget
[ttjad keyword=”ipad”]
