The Mac App Store sounds nice. It's Apple I'm scared of.

The recently announced Mac App Store is a great idea: an easy to use, easy to monetize software distribution system that guaranties users a good level of software quality.

But I'm not thrilled.

I live in Greece. Which means that I can't buy software from any Apple on-line store. A couple of years ago, I wanted to buy Quicktime Pro. I couldn't buy it on-line, I couldn't buy it from a physical store on a trip to London. I was only left with one option: bittorrent. This is the case with almost every piece of software Apple sells exclusively on-line -the MPEG2 codec comes to mind too.

And, I was reminded of the fact, once more today, when I realized I can't buy iLife '11 on-line. I'll have to wait for the local reseller to bring it to Greece. Or wait for my next trip to a city with an official Apple Store.

And this is why I'm not thrilled with the Mac App Store. What if Apple implements its stupid an restrictive policies there? What if I can't buy the software I need because "it's not yet available in my country"?

Mac App Store gives Apple gets an extra level of control over software distribution. Unfortunately, Apple is known for using control in a restrictive, not a liberating way.