Apple has been taking down several websites selling access to the beta version of iOS 6, according to reports.

Back in June, Wired detailed the mushrooming cottage industry to sell access to pre-release iOS software to non-developers but it appears as if Apple has now made a move to stop this practice.

"Behind the scenes, each service uses the same simple backdoor: Registered iOS developers can activate up to 100 unique device IDs (or UDIDs) for their account, an essential tool for testing apps on multiple devices. Once registered with Apple, the activated device is also able to run pre-release versions of iOS, though developers are forbidden from sharing pre-release software outside their own team," explains Wired.

iOS 6 was launched at WWDC 2012 and the Beta has been available for download for iOS Developer Program members at the iOS Dev Centre. To install iOS 6 Beta, first of all, users must have an iOS developer account or at least contact someone who has a developer account. The iOS developer program costs $99 (£63.97) per year for individuals and $299 (£193.2) for companies who may wish to develop iOS apps. Besides, users must ensure that the UDID of their device has been registered with the iOS developer program.

Now, according to MacStories, it is reported that "several" of the websites that advertised Unique Device ID (UDID) are no longer available. The site claims that it contacted some of the websites asking them whether Apple was behind the takedown of their services.

Copyright infringement

One of the website owners confirmed to MacStories that because Apple had lodged a complaint for copyright infringement his hosting provider took down the site. "We do not believe our service was infringing and our services did not violate their guidelines for iOS 6," the site owner commented. The owner of the site asserts it would launch a similar site soon, "with better and more secure data lines to handle Apple". He claims to have made $75,000 ever since the tech giant released its iOS 6 Beta to developers.

According to reports, the tech giant seems to have begun to take the action against these websites. Apart from iOS 6 Beta, it is reported that Apple had to disable the iOS 5 devices which purchased UDIDs from other developers. The company had to close the developer accounts which sold out their UDID slots for users.