Request for clarification using GAE and XMPP

[Nikolay Sohryakov]

Hi,

We have a question concerning Google App Engine Terms of Service:
According to paragraph 4.4 of the Terms it looks like it is forbidden developing multiple Applications to simulate or act as a single Application or otherwise access the Service in a maneer intended to avoid incurring fees. But there is such phrase in in XMPP Python API Overview: "Some possible uses of chat messages include automated chat participants ("chat bots"), chat notifications, and chat interfaces to services. A rich client with a connection to an XMPP server (such as Google Talk) can use XMPP to interact with an App Engine application in real time, including receiving messages initiated by the app". The question is: can we write a GAE application which consists of two parts: a web application running on GAE plaform and a desktop application running on user's computer and use XMPP as a communication tool between this 2 applications?

We think using GAE this way is totally applicable. We would just like to justify our understanding of the GAE Terms of use.

Thank you in advance,
Looking forward to recieving reply from you
Nikolay, Dmitry, Sergey 

[Branko Vukelic]

On Tue, Jun 28, 2011 at 11:22 PM, Nikolay Sohryakov
<nikolay....@gmail.com> wrote:
> application which consists of two parts: a web application running on GAE
> plaform and a desktop application running on user's computer and use XMPP as
> a communication tool between this 2 applications?

I believe they meant two GAE apps that communicate with each other
specifically to reduce the load that would be otherwise handled by a
single application. In case the other app is a non-GAE app, I think
the clause doesn't apply. For example, many people use non-GAE proxy
for payment processing, and they were not booted for breaking TOS.

--
Branko Vukelić
bra...@herdhound.com

Lead Developer
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