AppleInsider Staff
It appears Apple is instituting tight control over WWDC content for 2015, as the company on Thursday threatened legal action against AltConf if it moved forward with plans to stream the yearly keynote and subsequent sessions to attendees at an offsite location.
AltConf, a developers conference traditionally held in San Francisco during the same week as WWDC, usually streams Apple's keynote presentation and other content to attendees, but this year Apple is taking a hardline stance against such activity.
The cancellation was announced through the AltConf website on Thursday, just minutes after Release Notes tweeted out an ad for the free event at hotel Parc 55. Event organizers this year introduced a $300 ticket option, though access to the WWDC viewing room was supposedly free to all.
Due to a letter from Apple's legal representatives, AltConf will not be able to show any content from WWDC in the Viewing Room. In its place, sessions will be shown from Google I/O, Microsoft's Build, NSConference, 360|iDev, and UIKonf. All AltConf speaking sessions have remained untouched and will proceed as scheduled.
Apple is offering its own keynote stream to Apple TV owners, iOS device users and through the Web, while developers can access live lab sessions by visiting Apple's Developer website.
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29 Comments
I'm not a developer and so have no horse in this race, but it seems to me that if WWDC is sold out (and it always is) then it can only help Apple to have the keynote shown at another developer conference taking place simultaneously.
I could understand if they were charging for the event, but it's a free online stream.
There's better reporting of this elsewhere (as is all too often the case for AI, these days, I'm afraid). To summarize though: In previous years, AltConf restreamed with no apparent objections from Apple. This time, AltConf wanted to charge people $300 a head to watch. I agree with Apple. That really does crosses the line.
I'm not a developer and so have no horse in this race, but it seems to me that if WWDC is sold out (and it always is) then it can only help Apple to have the keynote shown at another developer conference taking place simultaneously.
I could understand if they were charging for the event, but it's a free online stream.
I agree; Apple could have handled this better rather than sending a c&d letter
... This time, AltConf wanted to charge people $300 a head to watch. I agree with Apple. That really does crosses the line.
Dick move by AltConf.
[quote name="Ronbo" url="/t/186583/apple-prohibits-altconf-from-streaming-wwdc-content/0_40#post_2731100"]There's better reporting of this elsewhere (as is all too often the case for AI, these days, I'm afraid). To summarize though: In previous years, AltConf restreamed with no apparent objections from Apple. This time, AltConf wanted to charge people $300 a head to watch. I agree with Apple. That really does crosses the line. [/quote] In that case, completely agree with Apple! Thanks for the missing part of the story.