Websites seized for "illegally" distributing Android apps

The United States Department of Justice has seized three websites accused of illegally distributing Android apps.

According to reports, the seizure of third-party app stores is the first of its kind, and some players in the Android ecosystem may applaud government intervention.

But will it help Android developers solve the piracy problem?

The three domains seized by the DOJ and Federal Bureau of Investigations were Applanet.net, Appbucket.net and Snappzmarket.com.

Applanet was perhaps the biggest of the three and from its description on Twitter, it is no wonder why it attracted the DOJ's attention. “Applanet is an exact replica of the android market. Get free paid apps. Directly to your phone!” The Applanet developer Twitter account had not posted an update since March this year and the official Applanet Twitter account has been privacy-restricted. SnappzMarket stated its mission to “make the open source operating system truly open.” AppBucket is a little more circumspect with a simple tagline of “Whatever YOU want us to be!” The DOJ apparently think they are pirates.