News: Japanese Publishers Cry Foul on Pirated App Store Books - The Mac Observer

Four publishers in Japan have accused Apple of selling pirated books in the company’s App Store for iOS apps. The Financial Times reported that the publishers have found instances of works covered by Japanese copyright for sell in pirated versions, usually in Chinese-language apps from developers based out of China.

For instance, when FT published its story, the complete works of Haruki Murakami (which includes works such as Norwegian Wood, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and other books) in Chinese for US$1.99. That app is no longer available.

The publishers said that Apple has pulled some instances of pirated works out of the App Store, but the group is complaining that Apple doesn’t have a formal mechanism to handle such issues so that pirated works can be dealt with more swiftly.

“Apple is yet to clearly specify a contact point for removal requests or the procedures for removal, and even for the content that has been removed, it is unclear who removed the content and how the determination for removal was made,” the group said in a formal letter of complaint. “In addition, despite directly profiting from this illegal distribution, Apple has also failed to disclose sales data for these digital bootlegs.”

The letter added, “Apple’s distribution of content that clearly infringes copyright constitutes the aiding and abetting of illegal acts, and this in itself must be deemed illegal.”

Apple offered FT a brief comment on the issue, saying in a statement, “As an IP holder ourselves, we understand the importance of protecting intellectual property and when we receive complaints we respond promptly and appropriately.”

The four publishers involved in the complaint are the JBPA, the Japan Magazine Publishers Association, the Electronic Book Publishers Association of Japan and the Digital Comic Association.

There are thousands of Chinese language apps available in the U.S. App Store, and many more in other App Stores throughout the world. Many of those are books in the form of an app, and Apple clearly hasn’t yet found a way to check IP rights on all the non-English apps that are submitted to the service,

The Japanese publishers have every right to be tense about their works being offered for sale illegally on the App Store, but it remains to be seen if Apple reverses years of secrecy and closed-door management of services and products such as the App Store by moving to more transparent business processes and policies like those in their letter.

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Rumor: Rumor: Apple Considering Norman Foster for New Campus Design - The Mac Observer

According to the latest word to come from the rumor mill, Apple is considering hiring Norman Foster to design its new campus on the Cupertino land recently purchased from HP. Mr. Foster is know throughout the world for his striking architectural designs, including London’s “Gherkin.”

El Economista (English translation) reports that Apple is considering linking its current Cupertino campus with the new facility via underground tunnels so staff can move between the buildings without crossing streets or having to go outside. The new campus will apparently be designed to be environmentally friendly as well.

Foster’s “Gherkin” with a little Apple touch

Apple recently purchased some 98 acres of land in Cupertino from HP with plans to expand its headquarters office space. The new land sits along Wolfe Road and butts up against an Apple land purchase from 2006.

“We now occupy 57 buildings in Cupertino and our campus is bursting at the seams,” Apple corporate spokesperson Steve Dowling said. “These offices will give us more space for our employees as we continue to grow.”

Apple isn’t saying who it plans to hire for the new campus design, nor has it said when it expects to start construction. Until Apple makes an official announcement, word that Mr. Foster is working with the company should be considered an unconfirmed rumor.

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Prosthetic leg discovered in search for Zahra Baker - Charlotte Observer

Posted: Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010

Search crews scouring a wooded area Wednesday found a prosthetic leg that could belong to Zahra Baker, the 10-year-old Hickory girl missing for almost three weeks and presumed dead.

The leg was found in an area off Christie Road in Caldwell County, Hickory Police Chief Tom Adkins said. He also said crews have returned to the family's home in Hickory to search for any additional evidence there Wednesday.

Adkins said crews have found some additional evidence there, but wouldn't say what that evidence was.

Zahra used a prosthetic leg after losing one of her legs to bone cancer at age 5. She was reported missing Oct. 9, but police said they haven't found anyone besides her father and stepmother who report seeing her alive since Sept. 25.

The search for her has taken law enforcement from her house in Hickory to rural land outside Morganton, from houses the family used to live in near Granite Falls to a Caldwell County landfill and many other sites.

So far, searchers have come up empty in the hunt for her body. Police believe Zahra is dead.

Her stepmother, Elisa Baker, was charged with obstruction of justice after police say she admitted writing a phony ransom note. Elisa Baker was brought to several search sites Tuesday, and authorities said she was cooperating with the investigation. Zahra's father Adam Baker was arrested this week on unrelated charges of assault and writing bad checks.

No one has been charged in Zahra's disappearance.

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Apple: 35000 iPads Apps Gives iPad the Advantage - The Mac Observer

Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer announced by way of his statement in Monday’s conference call with analysts that Apple now has more than 35,000 dedicated iPad apps in the App Store. The company said in its September media event that it had some 30,000 iPad apps, meaning that Apple has been approving roughly 1,000 new iPad apps per week since then.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs also referenced those 35,000 apps when he said that Apple’s app edge was an advantage for the company as competitors start bringing Android-based tablets to market. Mr. Jobs

“Most of the video on the web is available in HTML 5,” said Mr. Jobs. “Having the iTunes media store and over 35,000 Apps on the App Store for iPad dwarfs anything else, and we think we have a very good product here that’s going to be hard to match.

He added, “And we’re not done.”

In another part of the conference call, he said, “iPad now has over 35,000 Apps on the App store. This new crop of tablets will have near zero.”

That combined with a 7” display that Mr. Jobs argued passionately was not big enough for a proper interface — he called such a form factor a “tweener” device that is too big for a smartphone and too small for a tablet — and that they will be DOA (dead on arrival) when they come to market.

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Apple Stock Watch: AAPL Hits Third Record Close In a Row - The Mac Observer

Shares in Apple Inc. closed for a record high for the third trading day in a row, ending the day at US$298.54, up $3.18 (+1.08%), on light volume of 19.9 million shares trading hands.

The stock hit a new intraday high, as well, briefly peaking at $299.50 per share, just shy of the $300 mark. In addition to anticipation for Apple’s upcoming quarterly financial announcement on Monday, October 18th, the company has been getting a steady stream of positive news, such as the iPad being proclaimed the best-selling gadget ever.

Yahoo! Finance AAPL Chart

In addition, Ben Reitzes of Barclay’s Capital bumped his target price for AAPL to $385 per share, up from $340, calling Apple a growth play. He maintained his “Buy” rating on the stock.

In a research note to clients obtained by The Mac Observer, Mr. Reitzes said, “Even at this market cap, we continue to believe Apple is the best growth play in the IT hardware segment — with prospects for significant double-digit organic revenue growth for several more years.”

*In the interest of full disclosure, the author holds a small share in AAPL stock that was not an influence in the creation of this article.  

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