Delicious Library for iPhone removed from App Store

Delicious Monster's Library for iPhone app--introduced as a companion to the company's popular Mac Delicious Library 2 application--was removed from the iTunes App Store on Tuesday due to conflicts with Amazon's Product Advertising API License agreement terms.

(Credit: David Martin)

The announcement came from Delicious Monster CEO Wil Shipley, who relayed the bad news via Twitter. Apparently, the company was forced to remove the app because it uses Amazon application programming interfaces (APIs), thus giving it access to information stored in Amazon's database. Amazon prohibits this type of use in section 4e of the terms governing the use of its APIs:

(e) You will not, without our express prior written approval requested via this link , use any Product Advertising Content on or in connection with any site or application designed or intended for use with a mobile phone or other handheld device.

Additional Twitter posts by Shipley indicated that Amazon is not allowing exceptions to these terms for mobile devices at this time, so the company felt obligated to remove the app from the iTunes App Store. The restrictions are perplexing (the Mac desktop version of Delicious Library interfaces well with Amazon), so we can only guess that Amazon may fear that the iPhone juggernaut will bring down Amazon's API--a stretch if you consider Amazon online popularity.

Have light to shed on Amazon's surprising restriction? Let us know what you think in the comments.