Hello,
I've been working on a small iPhone app that displays web content using the devices GPS context. I am hoping to list this application in the AppStore for free.
If I list the application under my name, does this create any considerable liability considerations?
Thanks in advance, Ben
This is one of those questions that really belongs on a forum for IP lawyers. I'm not a lawyer, so this is somewhat speculative and should not be taken as legal advice.
A good rule of thumb is that anything you put in the public domain can open you up to legal liability. Whether you put your name on an application or not is irrelevant to whether or not you can be sued.
The open source people often include some boilerplate that amounts to "No express or implied warranty on this application, not even a promise that it will work and not brick your phone." How effective this boilerplate is would need a lawyer's perspective.
You appear to be in the USA, so the answer is "of course it does". And listing it in some other way also does. Anything you do, anywhere, at any time, that affects anyone in any way might well be taken as grounds for a lawsuit. If you want specific legal advice you should be talking to a lawyer.
IANAL, either. But if you give something away for free, something earnestly intended to help its users - and if you explain what it is, and whatever risks you're aware of - I don't think you have much to worry about. Certainly, you shouldn't. I say, do your best to make it good, safe, and all that, and set it free.