MTA Derails Greenwich Man’s Train App
By LEANNE GENDREAU
Updated 7:33 AM EST, Tue, Sep 8, 2009
If you wanted to know if your MTA train was going to be late, Chris Schoenfeld, of Greenwich, had an app for that, but no more, at least not until he pays Apple $700.
Apple has pulled Schoenfeld’s application from its iTunes App Store after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority asked the company to pull it, the Connecticut Post reports. The app shows Metro-North Railroad and other transit schedule information.
The problem, according to MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan, is a little disclaimer proclaiming that the MTA was not responsible for the accuracy of the information, told the newspaper, so angry commuters would not hold the MTA responsible.
Schoenfeld and the MTA agreed on a disclaimer, Donovan said. Apple will not fight application sales after Schoenfeld pays about $700 in back royalties for using MTA images on StationStops.com without their approvalm Donovan told the newspaper.
In June, the company wanted 10 percent of all future sales and a $5,000 payment against those sales, the New York Post reports.
Instead, Schoenfeld pulled the logos and is taking responsibility if the schedules are wrong.
Schoenfeld told the Connecticut Post that the MTA prolonged the process of developing the disclaimer language and feels the agency is trying to harass programmers from developing applications related to schedule information.
Schoenfeld created StationStops.com three years ago to address service problems on Metro-North Railroad. It includes his posts about technology, entertainment and some local issues.
First Published: Sep 8, 2009 6:03 AM EST
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