This agreement is likely to remain in place until 3.0 is released to the public. And, like the previous NDA, it makes about as little sense. Yes, the agreement prevents most public discussion of the new iPhone features but it does nothing to protect Apple’s intellectual property rights from being discovered by competitors. Anyone can walk off the street, download a copy, and take a look.
What the NDA does is provide a barrier to discourse: no how-to articles, no books, no public forums, no public code samples or open source development. You are limited to talking to other developers at Apple’s forums in the special pre-release section. The forums are pleasant, but with Apple employees acting as moderators, they are hardly a hot spot for honest, forthright discussion.
It does seem silly.