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It was pulled because the GPL license made Apple sad. Now it's MPL (Mozilla Public License) which Apple doesn't have a problem with.

http://thenextweb.com/apps/2013/07/18/vlc-for-ios-will-retur...

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Not correct. Apple got a takedown request from a single (non-core) developer of VLC last time and had to comply due to the GPL.

The GPL itself is not a problem for them in general and they don't just go around removing apps that are licensed under it.

> single (non-core) developer of VLC

That's not true.

Apple weren't bothered with the GPL, the GPL has a problem with FairPlay encryption.

Nope. Apple's App store encryption is compatible with both GPLv2 and GPLv3. (A lot of people think the anti-Tivoization provisions in GPLv3 are not compatible with the App store. These people have not read GPLv3 carefully. The anti-Tivoization provisions are much narrower than they think).

The problem was with the TOS that a user must agree to in order to be allowed to use the store. The TOS places limits on the user that are incompatible with GPL.

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