Want to run the latest iOS betas but too cheap to pay $99 per year to become a developer? It turns out there are websites that will sell you an activation for your device, but this unfortunate practice is becoming extinct as Apple finally cracks down on the practice.
MacStories.net is reporting that a number of websites involved in the questionable practice of adding an iOS device’s Unique Device Identifier (UDID) to their developer account have vanished in recent days, and it appears Apple has finally taken action against them.
The illicit practice of using a $99 per year iOS developer account to sell access to betas has been commonplace for several generations of the software, recently brought to light by a Wired story.
Apple allows developers to configure up to 100 devices, and that generous amount was racking up some quick cash for unscrupulous companies who were offering UDID access to iOS betas for roughly $8.99 each. One such company reportedly had 23 different developer accounts paying out $2,277 annually to Apple, racking up $75,000 since June, when the first iOS 6 beta was released.
The happy fun times appear to be over for many of these sites, as one site owner told MacStories that Apple is now being “fairly heavy-handed” about using DMCA requests to get such websites such down by their hosting provider.
“We do not believe our service was infringing and our services did not violate their guidelines for iOS 6,” the site owner told MacStories, despite the practice of selling UDID access clearly being frowned upon in Apple‘s developer agreement. This particular website promises to return soon, “with better and more secure data lines to handle Apple” — whatever that means.
While less popular, a few sites also offer the same service for Mac OS X betas as well, including OS X Mountain Lion, which is finally expected to launch publicly later this month.
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Article source: http://www.maclife.com/article/news/apple_finally_cracking_down_websites_selling_ios_beta_access
