Android Market Policies and Guidelines Published

Google has recently published the “Android Market Business and Program Policies.” There are some interesting aspects noted there worth mentioning. Among the first of them is the fact that “Only users 13 years of age or older are permitted to use Android Market,” while users under 18 can use the Android Market only if they have permission from a parent or a legal guardian.

Perhaps this won't be too much of a problem, since most of the G1 users are much older than that. One more thing that should be mentioned here is that Google has a zero-tolerance policy for adult content involving children.

Another important fact that Google announces regarding the purchases from the Android Market is that users will be able to return any applications that were acquired from the portal but not downloaded, and that they would receive full refund. Any issues that one might have with billing or chargebacks are to be discussed with the developer of the applications, and not Google.

The search giant also says that any application found to violate its rules will be deleted from the Android Market. The company also reveals that “If that occurs Google will make reasonable efforts to recover the purchase price of the Product, if any, from the originating Developer on your behalf.”

Another nice thing about the Android Market is that users are enabled to perform any update for the downloaded applications at no costs, and the same policy applies to anything they uninstall from the device, which is a great thing for those who lose or brick the handset by accident.

The guidelines also talk about other applications that are not allowed on the Market, including harmful ones, and the company will respond to copyright infringement notices as well.