Blog PostMass DMCA Takedowns by WhatsApp

Couple of months back I read an article on OpenWhatsApp site about Mass DMCA Takedowns by WhatsApp. Tarik in his post mentions major OpenSource Apps on Github that recieved DMCA Take down notice.

Tarik also brings up to our attention a very sensitive point, are they right in their claims? He also mentions Wazzap that doesn't use WhatsApp in its name and it got DMCA Take down notice.

He was also wondering what would happen to apps like mine, and here it comes, WhatsApp / Facebook are aggressively Taking down apps.

So I woke up this morning with an email from Google saying that I violated the TOS with my WhatsApp LastSeen Freezer.

As per the email, my application title/description attempts to impersonate or leverage another popular app without a permission.

Looks like I have to change my App Icon and Title including a Disclaimer in the description that this app works without changing/calling whatsapp related APIs. This app works purely using Android APIs. Then see how things move with Google.