As Apple promised in early October, the company has posted an updated Software Developer Kit (SDK) Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) which allows iPhone application developers to more openly discuss their development plans. In order to facilitate such discussion, Apple has also opened a forum for developers in the iPhone Developer Standard Program, Enterprise Program, and University Program members.
When Apple first opened the iPhone to third-party development, it put in place a very restrictive NDA that earned the ire of developers, because it prevented them from communicating with one another. Apple was also criticized for not providing mailing lists or a Web site forum for developers.
Earlier this month, Apple stated plans to drop the NDA. Apple said that it had put the NDA in place to protect its inventions from being stolen by others, but acknowledged that the result had placed too much of a burden on developers and “others interested in helping further the iPhone’s success.”
The revised NDA agreement binds developers to continue to to honor as confidential information regarding any Apple pre-release software along with “Apple Events or Paid Content.”
New developer forums, open to registered iPhone developers specifically, have also been set up on Apple’s developer Web site. The company lists the forums as beta presently, and calls it “a collaborative environment” where iPhone developers can post questions for each other and discuss iPhone development topics.