It’s not a fully fledged BitTorrent client, but Apple has rejected Drivetrain from the iPhone App Store nonetheless. The software, developed by Maza Digital, turns the iPhone/iPod touch into a remote control for the popular PC BitTorrent client Transmission (Mac and Windows). After a slightly longer review process than other iPhone apps, Apple turned down Drivetrain on the grounds that anything BitTorrent related “is often used for the purpose of infringing third party rights.” Of course, while the P2P protocol can be used for downloading pirated content, such as the latest DVD releases, it’s also a legitimate way for copyright holders to distribute large files, while sharing the bandwidth ‘costs’ with users.
In terms of functionality, Drivetrain enables the monitoring of BitTorrent downloads, including being able to pause, resume or cancel them altogether, as well as providing a web browser so that new torrents can be searched for and remotely downloaded. It’s the latter feature that probably set off the red light at the iTunes Store HQ.