New York Times tells Apple to keep RSS feed off new RSS reader

RSS is a technology that allows reading software on any computer to take a 'feed' of content produced by a publisher. It is a low-cost distribution method for digital news that allows readers to subscribe to chosen information sources.

When giving a speech and displaying one of his company's iPad devices Apple co-founder Steve Jobs highlighted Pulse NewsReader, an RSS reader for the iPad that presents a graphical display of RSS feeds.

One of the feeds pre-loaded in the software is that of the New York Times (NYT). The NYT Company wrote to Apple and claimed that this was in violation of its website's terms of use and demanded that the application be blocked. Apple did block it.

The TechCrunch blog reports that the app has since become available again without the NYT feed as a default feed, though that report is contradicted by Fastcompany.com, which says it was restored with the NYT feed as a default. A New York Times blog suggests that the app's restoration may have been an error.

"The Pulse News Reader app, makes commercial use of the NYTimes.com and Boston.com RSS feeds, in violation of their Terms of Use," said Richard Samson, NYT Company senior counsel in a letter to Apple, according to news site All Things Digital. "The use of our content is unlicensed. The app also frames the NYTimes.com and Boston.com websites in violation of their respective Terms of Use."

"I note that the app is delivered with the NYTimes.com RSS feed preloaded, which is prominently featured in the screen shots used to sell the app on iTunes," Samson said. "We hereby demand that you immediately and permanently remove this app from the iTunes site."

Users have to pay $3.99 to download and use Pulse, which was developed by Alphonso Labs Inc.

The clause of the Terms of Service referred to by Samson restricts many uses of the NYT's RSS feeds, despite the fact that publishers usually use RSS to achieve quick, wide dissemination of their material.

"You may not modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce (except as provided in Section 2.3 of these Terms of Service), create new works from, distribute, perform, display, or in any way exploit, any of the Content or the Service (including software) in whole or in part," the terms say.

Section 2.3, referred to above, says: "You may download or copy the Content and other downloadable items displayed on the Service for personal use only, provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein. Copying or storing of any Content for other than personal use is expressly prohibited without prior written permission from The New York Times".

"We received a written notice from The New York Times Company that The New York Times Company believes your application named 'Pulse News Reader' infringes The New York Times Company’s rights," said Apple's notice to Alphonso Labs, according to All Things Digital. "Accordingly, we have pulled your application from the App Store."

Though Samson's letter to Apple is not clear, it could be that the NYT's case is that Pulse infringes its terms and conditions because the pre-loading of the NYT's RSS feed is not "personal use" of the feed.

Alphonso Labs founder Akshay Kothari told All Things Digital that he hoped that his program would be compliant with the NYT if it was still able to access NYT content but did not come pre-loaded with it.