This week I’ve seen a number of “leaks” showing Lion and iOS 5 as well as people Tweeting about some of the information contained in WWDC sessions. Everyone that attends WWDC has to agree to an NDA (non-disclosure agreement for those not in the loop) and Apple stated everywhere that with the exception of the keynote, the content of the sessions was confidential and subject to the NDA. So, all these leaks are violations of the NDA. Besides what I’ve read on the web, the most flagrant violation I saw was someone taking a picture of the slide that said something on the bottom to the effect that photography was not permitted!
As Jason Snell tweeted a few days ago:
And with that, I declare the NDA completely dead. RT @daringfireball iOS 5 Screenshots and Tidbits at Engadget: df4.us/hqy
There are, unfortunately, no consequences to these NDA violations as Apple wouldn’t accomplish anything by suing the small developer. However, that is no reason to violate it as it won’t help any developer get ahead (I doubt the sites that have published information have paid the developers).
The first point of the Scout Law is “A scout is trustworthy”. I always try to live by this and this includes everything I have done in every aspect of my life including business and work. I wish that more people, especially those in my field, would take trust seriously.