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[ NNSquad ] YouMail returns to the Android Market


YouMail returns to the Android Market

In a blog posting a couple of days ago ( http://j.mp/v65izx ), I noted
with considerable disdain that YouMail's voicemail Android app, that I
use constantly, had been pulled from Google's Android Market on demand
of T-Mobile.

While YouMail is graciously taking part of the blame (there was a bug
affecting a relatively small percentage of users, that already been
fixed in the code but not yet pushed out), I personally would still
lay most of the blame on T-Mobile (and to a lessor extent, Google's
Android Market policies).

Executive Summary: A bug in the app caused a small percentage of the
installed app base to poll the YouMail servers pretty much
continuously.  While this apparently didn't bother any other carriers
(at least they never complained) it did upset T-Mobile.  Perhaps
they're taking "upset lessons" from would-be, might-have-been owner
AT&T (no, wait, AT&T apparently didn't complain either).

Anyway, a month ago or so, an engineer at T-Mobile sent an email
message to YouMail about this, but they sent it to the ordinary free
customer service address, where vast numbers of other queries of all
types are received.  YouMail replied that it was fixed in the next
release, and marked the matter resolved.  There was seemingly nothing
to indicate an urgent problem.

So a month goes by.  YouMail doesn't get other complaints from
T-Mobile about this.  The other carriers haven't complained at all.
T-Mobile reportedly doesn't bother to followup, or to contact YouMail
corporate.  T-Mobile just sits on the issue for weeks.

Then after a month, T-Mobile goes to Google and demands the app be
pulled for causing interference.  Does Google contact YouMail first to
ask them about the issue or warn them that they're about to be pulled?
After all, YouMail has an Android Market merchant account and related
direct contact info.  Apparently Google just pulled the plug without
prior notification (based at least on what I've learned so far).  And
they pulled the app for *all* carriers, not just for T-Mobile users
(apparently Market doesn't have the capability at this point for
anything other than a total flush).

Obviously YouMail bears some fault for having a bug.  But the "comedy"
of communications errors that occurred after that seems to largely fall
on the other players, who appear to have had a remarkably cavalier
attitude regarding cutting off access to apps that millions of people
depend on.

Perhaps the main lesson here is that such actions should only take
place *after* common sense escalation and notification of relevant
parties -- something for YouMail, T-Mobile, Google, and the rest of us
to remember.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren 
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org 
Founder:
 - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org 
 - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
 - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com 
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com 
Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein 
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com