Google Android and Italy

[Nicolò Borghi]

Just a few days ago, Google released Android ,basically an open and free mobile platform which is likely to shake the whole mobile industry. Great.Even better: Google launched also the Android Developer Challenge which is "a Google-sponsored program that will provide $10 million in total awards for the best mobile apps built on the Android platform".The Android Developer Challenge website goes on saying " Cool apps that surprise and delight mobile users, built by developers like you, will be a huge part of the Android vision." And here comes the bad part: if you are Italian, that "you" is not you. WHY? I discovered it by reading Fabrizo Capobianco' s blog. In his post "What's wrong with Italian developers?" , he explains everything. I asked Fabrizio if I could cut and past it, so here it is:

From the Android Developer Challenge FAQ:

The Android Developer Challenge is open to individuals, teams of individuals, and business entities. While we seek to make the Challenge open worldwide, we cannot open the Challenge to residents of Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Sudan, and Myanmar (Burma) because of U.S. laws. In addition, the Challenge is not open to residents of Italy or Quebec because of local restrictions.

Ok, I can take the axis of evil are out of the cash prizes for building Android applications, but what is wrong with the residents of Italy?? What did the Italian government do, this time? Or is it a plot to leave out the best mobile developers in the world (apologies for the developers of Quebec, with whom my fellow Italian developers supposedly share bad local restrictions...)?
[NOTE ADDED AFTER THE POST]
One of the Italian readers of this blog added a comment, pointing to the explanation by Fabrizio Giudici. In a nutshell, the Italian government adds so many rules - and requires Google to put a security deposit of $10M in the Italian banks - that kill the ability for Italians to compete with the rest of the world. Quite sad. These are the days when I am glad Funambol is incorporated in Delaware ;-)

Any comments?

P.S.
no mention at all on this the Italian Google Blog

[paolo marenco]

Corrado, the best answer is Funambol one: to be available to get italian ideas and to present to Google as Funambol that is US based...getting money and eventually job if you win...Europe is not yet a unique country....different legal rules..!

[paolo marenco]

Corrado, the best answer is Funambol one: to be available to get italian ideas and to present to Google as Funambol that is US based...getting money and eventually job if you win...Europe is not yet a unique country....different legal rules..!

[Corrado Alesso]

By the way, I perfectly agree with Google's decision of excluding Italy from the contest.

[Corrado Alesso]

Why not to promote the challange at european level instead of on a country-basis? Maybe this way any country in the European union could participate.. Don't know if this has sense beacuse I'm not in legal stuff...

[paolo marenco]

I red on La Stampa online ( technology) today that possibly the restictions are not applied to Google Challenge...Is it possible that Google did not realize that?? read the article and the reference to italian law