See a Questionable App in Marketplace? Microsoft Still Won’t Act on It

[Updated – see bottom] A long time ago we saw some questionable apps show up on Marketplace and we were told by Microsoft that they weren’t going to investigate those apps because once they do then they have triggered a requirement to police going forward. Instead, they wait for the developer to make a claim and then act on it (and never trigger the policing requirement this way but do act on the claim).  When Microsoft said that they were looking to further clean up Marketplace I thought this was going to trigger a change in attitude. They even provided an email address reportapp@microsoft.com. Well don’t go about actually reporting apps there unless it violates another policy of Marketplace, but let’s say it’s a fake or scam app – that will not be acted on.

Getting more specific, there’s a fake Cut the Rope app in Marketplace now. It’s a pure scam. At $2 and only 1 star ratings this app is ripoff. So how is Microsoft defending the Marketplace? Same as they always did – by inaction unless you are the offended. This was the response I received today to a report I made on Saturday:

Microsoft reviews Intellectual Property complaints from the Intellectual Property Owners. If you are the Intellectual Property Owner, please refer to this article on how to submit a Trademark or Copyright complaint: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh347118(v=VS.92).aspx

I’ve gone back and asked them to look at it from the perspective of a false or misleading description. But for now, scam artists can continue to persist in the Marketplace…not cool.

UPDATE: They went back based on the erroneous description (that pretends that this is a game) and I was told “We will remove the application for the misleading description.” One down…plenty to go