If you’ve rooted and modded your Android phone you’ve probably found Cyanogen, one of the best sources for modded Android ROMs out there. All of his ROMs are stable, usable on the G1 and MyTouch, and well-designed.

Google, however, takes issue with him releasing closed-source Google apps like Gmail, Maps, and YouTube and has sent him a cease and desist. They’re not particularly mad about the ROMs, mind you, just the apps inside them.

He IMed the folks at AndroidAndMe, telling them:

[20:03] google just cease and desisted me
[20:15] cyanogenmod is probably going to be dead
[20:16] i’m opening a dialogue with them
[20:20] no they are talking specifically about the closed-source google apps
[20:20] and how i am not licensed to distribute them

Presumably he can just take out the closed source apps and he’ll be fine. The only problem will be the users who may or may not have the wherewithal to find them online later.

via Eng