Android App Removals Cast Doubt on Google's 'Openness'

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011...tors-open/

Android App Removals Cast Doubt on Google's 'Openness'
By Mike Isaac June 9, 2011

Google's pitch for the Android mobile platform rests on a single,
oft-repeated word: "Open." But to some Android developers, the search giant's
recent practices at its app store have been anything but open.

The company recently suspended the accounts of two high-profile programmers
without reason or warning, removing all their published apps from the
Android Market and effectively slashing a large part of their livelihoods.

The removal of these apps is a sign that Google's "open" regime is gradually
crumbling, as the Android platform becomes more commercialized and entangled
in corporate partnerships. Combine this episode with Google's lockdown of
source code for Android's Honeycomb tablet operating system, and it's no
wonder why programmers and technology journalists have begun challenging
Android's claims of being open.