iOS App Store - Fake Microsoft Word 2012 Approved

http://itunes.apple.com/app/microsoft-word-2012/id534884750?mt=8

by ghurlman • 14 years ago

166 118 14 years ago

itunes.apple.com

tiernano3• 14 years ago

unless they changed it before now, the text specifically reads that its a tutorial app, and has tips, not pretending to be a full Word client... mind you, how many people bought it not reading the text fully? how many dident look at the screen shot? And if that was a lot of people, i am releasing a Microsoft Excel and Outlook app for the iPhone/iPad later on... free money from what i can only imagine are people with too much feeking money...

Groxx• 14 years ago

I'm willing to bet a fair number didn't read it. Given one of the reviews:

>Very Stupid App!!!!

This is just a waste of money. Don't buy this app because you cannot even write a document!!!!!!

But that's about par for the course. The dissatisfied ones are always the loudest. I do highly doubt they had permission to use the Microsoft trademark in that way though.

ceejayoz3• 14 years ago

> I'm willing to bet a fair number didn't read it.

Why would I? I'd personally have assumed that no Apple reviewer would ever permit a developer named "Super Racing Real Games" to use the Microsoft Word logo and name for an app. They're supposed to be there to protect against this sort of stuff, so I can't blame folks for not reading too closely.

mikeash2• 14 years ago

Yes, I'm sure Microsoft won't sue you for trademark violation at all.

tiernano3• 14 years ago

1) its was a rhetorical comment, and 2) Word, and Excel are trademarks, not copyrighted... same with Outlook for that matter...

wattjustin• 14 years ago

Out of all of the reasons why this is crazy including a misleading title and screenshots, I just can't believe the app size is 121MB.

iamandrus• 14 years ago

The price is pretty ridiculous too. I would have bought it simply for the novelty if it wasn't $10.

vibrunazo• 14 years ago

I believe that's part of their magic trick. I don't think as many people would rush to think it's the official MS Word if it cost only $1.

The price, app size, screenshots. Everything is misleading, except the one thing most people don't even look at, which is the text description.

StavrosK• 14 years ago

Looks like it contains videos too.

huxley• 14 years ago

I thought it was interesting that the seller's last name was Potemkin:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potemkin_village

pkulak• 14 years ago

Aren't we handing over all the flexibility of open app development so that Apple can protect us from crapware? What the hell are they doing with my $100 a year?

franzus3• 14 years ago

I don't know what they're doing. But I think it must be something really complex as my last application needed 13 days to get "in review" status and then 18 days more to get approved.

Feels good paying those $100 every year ...

briandear2• 14 years ago

You could just stop developing for Apple. I hear Android is an "open" platform.

Bud2• 14 years ago

No. It's so Apple can protect you from malware.

Not choosing and buying crapware is still on you.

grecy• 14 years ago

So when Microsoft wants to submit the "real" 'Microsoft Word 2012' to the app store, how does Apple handle the name conflict?

Can I go and submit an app under the name of every existing company name I can think of, just like domain parking?

eigenvector• 14 years ago

Considering that Microsoft Word is a registered trademark of Microsoft that the author of this app is presumably not licensed to use, I would think that Apple should have no issue removing it.

villancikos2• 14 years ago

This is a "great" scam. I can't belive people is falling for it. But worst, I can't believe Apple "stantards" approved this one. It is incredible the amount of people that doesn't read at all. Not even the small description.

mbetter• 14 years ago

> "stantards"

Not sure if typo or insult.

alainbryden• 14 years ago

This is so deceitful. If they weren't trying to swindle people they would have named it "Tips and Tricks for Microsoft Word" or "Microsoft Word 2012 Helper". This product is not "Microsoft Word 2012" and they should not get away with naming it as such. I rarely say this about small companies, but I hope they get sued into bankruptcy by the big M. Most importantly, I hope everyone who purchased it gets their money back without having to ask.

cosmic_shame• 14 years ago

Looks like the walled garden's walls are pretty easy to hop over these days.

timdorr• 14 years ago

Their other apps: http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/super-racing-real-games/id...

From the looks of it, they're a total scam developer. How does this stuff get into the store? At least two of their apps use the logos of other apps with some quick filtering to change the colors.

I guess Apple isn't doing much more than a cursory check against trademarks when approving apps. That seems really dangerous. Copyright infringement procedures are well defined by the DMCA. Trademark doesn't have an equivalent law.

n9com2• 14 years ago

oh they do check - this is either a total oversight or an inside connection that the developer has.

franzus3• 14 years ago

> inside connection

The app store feels like some corrupt east european kleptocracy. Your only chance to get featured is if you have some inside connections. And if you need "special" functionality in your app - no problem! Inside connections help again.

smackfu• 14 years ago

I think Apple's position is "it's not our job to police your trademarks, since you don't tell us when you license them to developers".

bcl• 14 years ago

Nope. When I first submitted SharePics the logo had a white space at the bottom. They rejected it because they said it looked like a Polaroid. Apple needs to be more consistent, either curate the hell out of it, or don't. Inconsistent application of the rules make it more confusing for naive users.

saurik13• 14 years ago

I am pretty certain that would not hold up in court: because they do very specific curation of their App Store (including reading the descriptions for content and vetoing certain forms of text), they are legally liable for all of the content displayed in their catalog.

In fact, due to the way the American legal system works (with our concept of "joint and several liability"), Apple would probably end up paying any and all trademark damages, and would then have to go after the developer to recover as much as they could themselves.

briandear2• 14 years ago

Apple does respond to complaints from trademark holders. It's not Apple's job to determine trademark infringement; it's the job of the trademark holder to protect their marks. When Microsoft files a complaint, Apple will take down the offending app, assuming the violation can be proven. The burden of proof (as in the courts) is on the trademark holder, not the seller.

gdilla• 14 years ago

They usually do catch or question or flag apps that can't provide license to use trademarks. We publish apps using well known apps and they sometimes get rejected until we can prove we have permission by the mark holders.

saurik13• 14 years ago

To quickly follow up on your aside regarding how this might work for copyright issues (as opposed to for trademarks): the DMCA procedures do not apply to Apple due to their specific curation: they have forfeited any possible safe harbor protections, and the procedure for dealing with them is not simply a take down notice.

Thereby, if you have an issue with an app in the App Store, you can and probably should (as in, the American legal system will, in the end, fail to work correctly for you if you don't) directly sue Apple for any copyright infringement that occurs in their App Store. (Of course, most directly, what you should do is talk to your lawyer. ;P)

(I am not a lawyer, but I do run Cydia, the alternative to the app store that distributes substrate extensions for jailbroken devices, and have in the past run other systems such as Cyrket. I thereby have received a fair number of C&D's myself, and have had my own lawyers brief me on these matters.)

(That said, Cyrket had DMCA safe harbor and for Cydia I only host my own work, so I can easily and often be fuzzy about details as they might apply to companies like Apple. It is interesting, though, to hear at conferences from people at Google about the balance the Android Market must keep to maintain their DMCA safe harbor.)

jrockway• 14 years ago

I highly doubt that curating the market removes the safe harbor immunity. They are no longer a common carrier, perhaps, but that's orthogonal to the DMCA safe harbor.

k-mcgrady• 14 years ago

Apple's job is not to do a check against trademarks when reviewing an app. They test for bugs and malicious code. The test private API's aren't being used and they check it meets the public guidelines document.

I've released an app before which infringed on a trademark (accidentally, I didn't realise the name of this sport was trademarked). The owner of the trademark emails Apple, who forwards it to the developer who is told to take action immediately and respond to the trademark owner. If there isn't a quick resolution Apple will take down the app. They even have a check box when you are submitting an update which tells them if you are updating for a legal reason. I presume they would then expedite the review process.

n9com2• 14 years ago

Utter joke. Some app reviewers must be getting bribed - no way they can miss this scam app!

pooriaazimi6• 14 years ago

I love these guys. They have tons of other shitty/scammy apps:

- Fruit Defense (ripoff of Fruit Ninja): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fruit-defense/id527599882?mt=...

- File Manager (a game!): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/file-manager/id529097807?mt=8

- Orient Fight (icon is a ripoff of Temple Run's): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/oriental-fight/id527894964?mt...

- F1 Birdie Driver (bird looks like an angry bird): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/f1-birdie-driver/id529098374?...

- Slider Customizer (obviously does nothing): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/slider-customizator/id5316330...

- Videogram Pro (ripoff of Instagram, with almost the same icon): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/videogram-pro/id529801444?mt=...

- Tapped (ripoff of Bejeweled): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tapped-./id527589234?mt=8

- Real Robot Attack (I know it's a ripoff of some famous game, but I don't remember its name): http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/real-robot-attack/id529803195...

- Two other shitty apps: Beauty Meter (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/beauty-meter!/id527010584?mt=...) and Oldity Meter (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/oldity-meter/id529098528?mt=8)

---

This is why I sometimes get mad at Apple. I do believe they have the right to curate their store, but I think they should do it more vigorously and reject every single shitty app, and ban those developers. App Store is getting filled with these crap...

grimoire• 14 years ago

I also agree that Apple has a right to curate their store. But I disagree that the only store I should be allowed to buy from is Apple's.

debacle2• 14 years ago

Then don't buy an iOS device.

adriand• 14 years ago

I love these reviews of F1 Birdie Driver:

----------

Wow! by {{{Indie_John}}} (Five Stars)

Surprising control system! It's cool, that you can steer.

Birds! by david35689 (Five Stars)

It's so cool, that birds are in racing game now!

Worthless by Jim hannoonen (One Star)

Horrible game! Total waste of money.

----------

Someone should release a game called "Spot The Fake Review".

ThomPete• 14 years ago

Or even better: "Create fake reviews" :)

Bud2• 14 years ago

You feel that Apple should reject "every single shitty app"? Really? You do realize that such things are subjective, right?

pooriaazimi6• 14 years ago

I actually meant 'scammy'.

I just don't think they should be doing it so half-assedly... Either don't reject apps that fall short of some stupid 'guideline', or add 'don't produce scammy/confusing apps' to your 'rules' and reject such apps. There are hundreds of apps on the App Store, allegedly allowing you to record your phone calls. Only 1 of them works as far as I've heard (and that works by adding another remote listener to the conversation, in conference mode), or thousands of scammy apps that are supposed to let you change wallpapers, screen savers, put notes in 'lock screen', warm up your hands (by emitting ultra-something rays out of screen!), put more than 4 icons in the dock, create password-protected folders, blacklist phone numbers, auto-response to SMS, you name it. I think every single one of these apps should be removed from the App Store.

MartinCron4• 14 years ago

Sure, there's no reason why apple shouldn't be able to make subjective quality value judgments. When I go to any retail store, the purchasers have already made hundreds of subjective rejections for me. Some stores are stricter than others, and that's OK.

I like knowing that something I buy at Nordstrom probably won't be complete and utter garbage. If Apple wants to be the Nordstrom of app stores, that's their right.

utopkara• 14 years ago

Apple is not in the business of justice. They will go to great lengths to protect their business, and other things are only important as long as they are relevant to their business. Now, the shittiness of the app store should concern them. I believe they are doing a pretty good job of promoting good apps, and letting the bad reviews bury horrible apps. If an app like this one floats up all the filters and publicly shames them, they will take down the app and probably all the other apps by the developer. So, if they will take dramatic action, it will probably on a case basis; which is both more conservative as an action from their part, and probably as effective as a countermeasure.

pvidler• 14 years ago

> but I think they should do it more vigorously and reject every single shitty app, and ban those developers

Easy to say, but hard to do with the volume of app submissions. That's the trouble with a large-scale process that must be carried out by humans -- consistency and fairness are just plain hard.

This example is a clear sign that there's room for significant improvement, however.

saurik13• 14 years ago

Apple, just a few days ago, also approved (and pulled once there was a lot of online press being caused by it) a fake Cydia. (Cydia is the alternative to the app store that distributes substrate extensions for jailbroken devices.) A bunch of people bought it and then left reviews saying that they had been ripped off.

http://cache.saurik.com/tinyimg/cydiascam.png

ckrailo• 14 years ago

You'd think they would know about your app by now and not even let it get approved. ;)

(Amazing work btw, you rock.)

pooriaazimi6• 14 years ago

Was it paid, or free? (I kinda know the answer, just want to make sure!)

saurik13• 14 years ago

I had said "bought it", but I did not indicate the price: $0.99.

Samuel_Michon4• 14 years ago

Sorry, but I find that hilarious. Who in their right mind would believe that Apple would let Cydia into their own store?

Of course, Apple shouldn't have let the scam app through either, and should remove it ASAP, but consumers do have some responsibility to use their faculties.

aidos• 14 years ago

That's fairly obvious to us. The problem is that Apple have created an environment where people are encouraged not to use their faculties. Apple insist on acting the way they do with the store, so it falls to them to make sure crap like this never sees the light of day. I mean really, which member of the Apple team allowed Word 2012 through?

ajays• 14 years ago

Maybe it's because it is in Apple's interest to get people pissed off at Cydia?

saurik13• 14 years ago

To take this question seriously fr a moment: the reaction is more to undermine the trust in the App Store's curation; this I one of those scams where the moment after you fall for it you know, in hindsight, that you've been had, so you don't seek retribution on the person being impersonated.

taligent2• 14 years ago

Or more reasonably one of the people reviewing the apps had never heard of Cydia.

Remember the reviewers are the equivalent of tele-sales positions. They aren't necessarily from technical backgrounds.

berkut2• 14 years ago

It's getting ridiculous - I'd heard of this happening a lot, and then last week one of my GPL'd Mac apps that's hosted on GitHub appeared on the Mac Store, being sold for €23.99 by some person (obviously Chinese with a really dodgy website). Surely the dodgy website should ring some alarm bells at Apple?

Despite going through the process on the store feedback to notify Apple of counterfeit apps, I've had no response...

I don't really care that much that someone's profiting off my work (they didn't even bother to do their own screenshots), I'm more concerned that some people are going to pay that money for that clone of my app, when it's free (although not in the App Store), and the other developer is very unlikely to help them if there are any problems.

ceejayoz3• 14 years ago

If they provide the source code on request or in the credits or something similar, isn't that perfectly legitimate?

fpgeek• 14 years ago

My understanding was that the GPL and Apple's app store terms were fundamentally incompatible, but I suppose that might only be true of iOS (because of the development tool issues and such).

berkut2• 14 years ago

Not according to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_App_Store and people familiar with the issue...

hcarvalhoalves• 14 years ago

The app store is full of scams right now, and Apple doesn't seem to care, they just want their cut. Apple is more interested in banning whoever competes with their own offerings (BitTorrent clients, Music stores, etc.) than actually reviewing apps.

peterjmag• 14 years ago

"How quickly can you page numbering?"

A question for the ages, indeed.

mmuro• 14 years ago

Is this a case of the app getting approved as something else and then the developer turns around and changes something in the meta that doesn't require approval?

younata• 14 years ago

As I understand it, even if you don't change the actual binary, changing the meta info still requires another review.

hogu• 14 years ago

reminds me of The Asylum film studios - they do the same thing, except for movies. I've been tricked into renting their movies instead of the real ones before, when I had forgotten the correct title.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Asylum

MartinCron4• 14 years ago

Yes! I went from very confused to very angry when I watched "Battle Of Los Angeles" on Netflix streaming thinking it was "Battle: Los Angeles". And that didn't cost me anything (other than the 20 minutes wasted before I realized I had been tricked).

ajarmoniuk• 14 years ago

To be true, this mockup movie was not much worse than the "original".

nimeshneema• 14 years ago

The description sounds hilarious and man I am loving the grammar:

Description:

Every modern person some time or other is faced with Microsoft Office Word. However not everyone knows it to perfection! "How quickly can you page numbering?" How about adding and changing the page header? If takes more than a minute, this program is for you! Now you always have a list of tips which makes any Microsoft Office task easy and simple.

Seems like the developer tried to make this version of Word less sucky...

dutchbrit• 14 years ago

Is it just me or has the app been removed? Saw it earlier on, and indeed, what a scam.. Can't believe it got approved!

macuenca• 14 years ago

Seems to be already removed, at least that's what I see from Europe with a U.S. account.

Remember that whatever amount of money is this publisher making, Apple is taking a 30%. Maybe they don't put too much effort on their side on purpose, just saying.

Samuel_Michon4• 14 years ago

Apple breaks even on app sales, and has done so for years. The 30% of paid apps is used for developing the Xcode software and SDK, evaluating app submissions, advertising, affiliate programs, payment processing, storage and bandwidth.

Also remember, Apple pays the storage and bandwidth for all the free apps, which devs can submit for free.

inportb• 14 years ago

Is there a link to this that doesn't want me to install iTunes? For some reason, some iTunes links do not hit people with a paywall but some (such as this) do.

iOS App Store - Fake Microsoft Word 2012 Approved

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