Windows Phone Marketplace can remotely revoke app licenses

Speaking at a MIX10 session about Windows Phone 7 Series architecture this morning, Microsoft’s Istvan Cseri mentioned that the Windows Phone Marketplace — the one and only clearinghouse for apps in WP7S — will be able to remotely revoke licenses. Since devices will only run properly-licensed apps, this effectively means the company will be able to shut down apps remotely — a capability they’d probably invoke if a Marketplace app were to badly misbehave en masse, for example. To put it bluntly, Cseri says that apps simply aren’t in control of their own life cycle; the user controls installation and removal while the Marketplace ensures that the license is valid.

On a related note, we know that Microsoft has a series of not-yet-finalized “business, technical, and content” guidelines for accepting and rejecting apps submitted to the Marketplace, and we’ve got a particularly interesting case: apps are being “discouraged” from using the phone’s Back button. They’re being so strongly discouraged, in fact, that Todd Brix — senior director of mobile platform services product management at the company — told us that apps can and will be straight-up rejected for using Back for anything but dismissing dialog boxes. We won’t know the full rulebook until Microsoft releases it in May — but in the meantime, don’t bother making anything too controversial with those free tools, eh?

Windows Phone Marketplace can remotely revoke app licenses originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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