Sometime ago (more than 18 months ago) we announced that we would move to API Version 2.0 and OAuth would be part of that transition. Our plan at that time was to give developers a timeframe of 1 year to complete any move between API 1.0 and API 2.0. Naturally, the world and our plans have changed in 18 months! To be very clear, what we have released is not API 2.0. We have chosen to release only the authentication mechanism within the current API framework at this time. The existing API calls remain unchanged. For the security of our consumers, we have decided that for the majority of developers the deadline to switch to OAuth will be February 15, 2013.
While we believe the timeframe for the switch over is sufficient for most of our developers, we know there may be exceptions. Please know that we are more than happy to help our developer community make the transition and ensure that their apps continue to work. On a case-by-case basis we will discuss extending the transition period, simply contact us. We believe this plan ensures consumers are protected quickly and also gives personalized service and flexibility for those apps that need it!
Our goal with the Empire Avenue API is for third party developers to develop applications to work alongside and extend Empire Avenue. We are committed to providing developers with access that will produce new and innovative applications on various platforms. Before you get going though, we strongly encourage you to browse through the Getting Started section below.
Beta and what it means
At present, Empire Avenue is in BETA state. It means that this API continues to evolve and expand. Those that use our API will be using it at the risk that whole swathes of it may be rewritten, changed etc. While we will try very hard to let any developer know when we make changes, in order to get announcements of additions and changes please sign up to the following Google Group: empireave-api-announce@googlegroups.com
To contact us, discuss and/or report bugs with the API, we also encourage you to join the developer discussion which is available at the following Google Group: empireave-api-discussion@googlegroups.com
Developer Responsibility
We are committed to the privacy of our users. We expect any third-party developer to be as careful and as committed to the privacy of our users as we are. This means that we expect you to protect any data retrieved from Empire Avenue on behalf of a user. Please read our Developer Guidelines and other legal documents that may pertain to you and your application carefully. If you intend to store the data from Empire Avenue, you may be required to have a privacy policy that pertains to your application.
Please note: we have provided a mechanism for any Third-Party Application to be blocked from accessing a user's data at the request of a user. We will take abuse of the API and access to Empire Avenue data extremely seriously.
Getting Started
To use this API you will need to setup an OAuth application. To get started use the following steps: