Apple was barred from acting legally because it is an at-arms entity - the lawsuits do not technically involve Apple directly so no matter how much money or resources Apple had, they couldn't countersue for the subject matter at hand. In this case, Apples hands were tied.
Apple can sue Lodsys directly for something different, but cannot countersue for claims that Lodsys have brought against indy / small apps publishers.
Of course, a solution would be for Apple to purchase an indy developer currently being sued, and thus be able to defend the developer because it now involves Apple, but I doubt that is scalable for all the people being sued.
Another solution might be to provide free, ongoing legal aid (100 free lawyers for the community would be great) for all companies being threatened this way - but Apple is not running a charity.
Martha Stewart is being threatened directly, so they have the ability to respond (since they have the funding/resources to do so).
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How does Martha Stewart have the motivation and resources that Apple doesn't? I'm skeptical.
Apple was barred from acting legally because it is an at-arms entity - the lawsuits do not technically involve Apple directly so no matter how much money or resources Apple had, they couldn't countersue for the subject matter at hand. In this case, Apples hands were tied.
Apple can sue Lodsys directly for something different, but cannot countersue for claims that Lodsys have brought against indy / small apps publishers.
Of course, a solution would be for Apple to purchase an indy developer currently being sued, and thus be able to defend the developer because it now involves Apple, but I doubt that is scalable for all the people being sued.
Another solution might be to provide free, ongoing legal aid (100 free lawyers for the community would be great) for all companies being threatened this way - but Apple is not running a charity.
Martha Stewart is being threatened directly, so they have the ability to respond (since they have the funding/resources to do so).