Google has suspended a popular app from the Play Store because it can load a pirate website, which Google Chrome or any other web browser can do as well. The app named Downloader was removed following a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) complaint from a group of Israeli TV firms.
Play Store suspended the Downloader app because it can load a specific website
Downloader is a free app for Android TV and Amazon Fire TV devices. It is a utility app that offers a built-in web browser combined with a file manager. It lets users “easily download files from the internet onto their device”. You can manually enter a URL or sideload the web browser plugin to download files from websites. The app has been around for about seven years now, accumulating more than 50 million installs across the two platforms.
But Google recently suspended Downloader from the Play Store citing a DMCA complaint that states that the app “allows users to view the infamous copyright infringing website known as SDAROT” (via). The developer of the app Elias Saba cites took to Twitter and his blog to share the unfortunate news. According to Saba, the DMCA complaint was served by a law firm on behalf of several Israeli TV companies. These include Yes TV and Hot TV.
The primary complaint is that the app can load the aforementioned pirate website, which already has permanent injunctions issued against it by two Israeli courts and a US federal court (issued by a US District Court judge in New York in April 2022). But as said before, this isn’t something that only Downloader can do. Any web browser allows users to load any active website that isn’t blocked by their internet provider or local government.
Saba states that he has no association with the website in question or its operator. “Any rational person would agree that you can’t possibly blame a web browser for the pirated content that exists on the internet,” Saba vented out his frustration in his blog post. “My app in no way directs users to any specific website other than my own [www.aftvnews.com, which is the browser’s default homepage].”
Google rejected the developer’s appeal
Shortly after Google suspended Downloader from the Play Store, Saba filed appeals through the Google Play Console and the company’s DMCA counter notification form. However, the Google Play Console appeal was rejected within about an hour. “We’ve reviewed your appeal request but we’re still unable to reinstate your app,” the rejection notice said.
Meanwhile, in response to Saba’s DMCA counter, Google said that it is giving the TV firms ten days to file “either an action that seeks a court order to restrain the allegedly infringing activity or a claim of infringement with the US Copyright Office Copyright Claims Board”. If they don’t go to court, Downloader should be back in the Play Store in a week or so.
Nonetheless, as Saba says, “It’s a ridiculous claim and an abuse of the DMCA”. The app may be back, but the developer has already lost a lot of existing users or potential new users. The app reportedly had 36 percent fewer users a week after Google suspended it. “I’ve lost no matter what,” the creator of the Downloader app said. The app is still available on the Amazon app store for Fire TVs or as an APK file from the official website.