Scumbags! I'm talking about Google, not you, unless you're Google - in which case, I'm talking about you. It all has to do with Google's marketplace for apps. I often describe it as the apps and app types that Apple rejected. One of the more common types of apps to be found on Google Play is the kind that violates the intellectual property of someone else. This time, the target is iTunes Radio. There is a high-profile app from a high-profile developer that, straight up, allows you to steel music from iTunes Radio. Google is perfectly okay with it.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/16/doubletwists-new-android-app-records-songs-played-on-itunes-rad/

I'm not going to belabor this issue. Nor am I going to engage anyone in the sophistry of "fair use" argumentation. Don't bother. Trust me; I'm better at it than you are. This is not about individuals choosing to pirate songs. It is theft when I do it, and theft when anyone else does it. Whether or not it is ever justifiable is another matter, and one I am not addressing in this post. So don't bother puffing up with moral indignation or accusations of hypocrisy. I'm not impressed with any of it. 

In this case, what you do as an individual is irrelevant. Google, however, is not an individual. It is a multinational, multibillion dollar company with legal and social responsibilities. In terms that are easier to understand, Google is playing the part of the drug dealer, not the addict. Google distributes the app that enables people to steel from iTunes Radio. This is unacceptable! Unless, of course, You're a scumbag. Such is Google.

David Johnson