Pirated Android apps featured prominently on Aliyun app store

“三山五园文化巡展”亮相高雄展皇家园林魅力

百度

Controversial Android fork's store distributes unauthorized versions of apps.

Jon Brodkin – Sep 17, 2012 9:53 am | 101

Temple Flee on the Aliyun app store. Seems legit. Credit: Aliyun OS app store

Over the past few days, Google and Alibaba have argued over whether Alibaba's Aliyun OS is a ripoff of Android. But one thing does not seem to be in dispute: the Aliyun app store is hosting a bunch of pirated Android applications.

When Acer attempted to release a phone running Aliyun OS, Google objected, telling Acer it would lose the privileges it gets as a member of the Open Handset Alliance. OHA membership bars members from releasing non-compatible versions of Android. Alibaba claims Aliyun is not really a version of Android, but Alibaba has not disputed Android chief Andy Rubin's assertion that the Aliyun app store "contains Android apps (including pirated Google apps)."

A search for "Google" on the Aliyun store turns up what appear to be numerous copies of official Google applications, including Google Drive, Google Books, and Google Sky Map:

Translated from Chinese into English by Google Translate.

Given Google's disdain towards Aliyun, it's fair to say Google didn't authorize distribution of those apps. We've been in touch with Alibaba, and while the company has been quick to dispute Google's assertion that Aliyun is just an incompatible fork of Android, Alibaba did not reply to repeated questions about whether its store hosts pirated Android apps.

Of course, even Google's official Android store has had to deal with pirated and renamed versions of legitimate software. But Aliyun seems to highlight them prominently. This screenshot from the front page of the Aliyun store shows multiple versions of Angry Birds, Temple Run, and Eternity Warriors 2:

The developers listed are not the ones who actually made the apps. We contacted the makers of the three apps we listed above. Temple Run Creator Keith Shepherd of Imangi Studios responded and told us "I don't recognize the vendor. Looks pirated to me." The version of Temple Run on Aliyun's app store uses the same screenshots that appear on the official Google Play store.

For Open Handset Alliance members, there's only one Android

There are certainly multiple versions and forks of the open source Android, for example the software used on Amazon's Kindle Fire, and Barnes & Noble's Nook tablets. But neither of those companies are members of Google's Open Handset Alliance, and don't have to play by the same rules that Acer does. Google is trying to prevent incompatible versions of Android, and argues that Aliyun's use of the "Android runtime, framework and tools" certainly makes it a version of Android.

Alibaba argues otherwise, telling Ars in a statement: "Aliyun OS incorporates its own virtual machine, which is different from Android's Dalvik virtual machine. Aliyun OS' runtime environment, which is the core of the OS, consists of both its own Java virtual machine, which is different from Android’s Dalvik virtual machine, and its own cloud app engine, which supports HTML5 web applications. Aliyun OS uses some of the Android application framework and tools (open source) merely as a patch to allow Aliyun OS users to enjoy third-party apps in addition to the cloud-based Aliyun apps in our ecosystem."

But there seems to be no disputing that Aliyun is distributing pirated versions of Android applications, and Alibaba has so far chosen not to answer our questions on this topic. While the pirated applications aren't the only reason Google doesn't want a hardware partner releasing Aliyun phones, they certainly give Android's owner more incentive to take a stand.

水生木是什么意思	2楼五行属什么	传染病4项是什么	6.20什么星座	乌龟白眼病用什么药
血压偏高吃什么药	后巩膜葡萄肿是什么意思	取环后需要注意什么	土茯苓与茯苓有什么区别	什么是三宝
白癜风有什么危害	脚为什么会脱皮	给产妇送什么礼物好	前胸后背出汗是什么原因造成的	女红是什么意思
喝什么茶叶减肥效果最好	来之不易是什么意思	g750和au750有什么区别	预后是什么意思	wa是什么意思

什么是泥炭土hcv9jop3ns6r.cn	裙子搭配什么鞋子zhongyiyatai.com	掌眼什么意思ff14chat.com	牙龈发炎肿痛吃什么药hcv9jop5ns9r.cn	藏语扎西德勒是什么意思hcv9jop3ns9r.cn
肝看什么科hcv8jop7ns4r.cn	孕前检查一般有什么项目hcv8jop3ns0r.cn	口臭是什么原因造成的hcv8jop4ns4r.cn	掼蛋是什么意思hcv8jop0ns0r.cn	果胶是什么东西xscnpatent.com
田童念什么hcv7jop4ns8r.cn	白带黄吃什么药hcv8jop1ns8r.cn	红糖水什么时候喝最好hcv8jop5ns1r.cn	金黄的稻田像什么hcv8jop4ns4r.cn	湿疹用什么药好得最快最有效hcv9jop0ns9r.cn
苦胆是什么hcv7jop6ns5r.cn	树欲静而风不止是什么意思jingluanji.com	双什么意思hcv8jop7ns3r.cn	大小脸是什么原因造成的inbungee.com	麦冬和什么相克hcv8jop2ns0r.cn