What is the ruling on downloading, publishing, and selling free applications from Google, knowing that the company's terms and conditions prohibit this? And are Google's terms and conditions invalid, such that we are not obligated to abide by them?

It is not permissible to copy or download programs and applications without the company's permission, because these are reserved rights of their owners. The resolution of the Islamic Fiqh Academy stipulated that these rights are legally recognized and it is not permissible to infringe upon them. It also states in the fatwas of the Permanent Committee that copying programs which their owners prohibit from being copied is not permissible except with their permission, based on prophetic hadiths such as: "Muslims are bound by their conditions" and "The wealth of a Muslim person is not lawful unless given with his good consent." This applies to the wealth of both Muslims and non-belligerent disbelievers; therefore, the terms and conditions of the program and application owners should not be violated.