TAG | iPhone 3G: all your Internet parts are not belong to us |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Wednesday, 27 August 2008 | |
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Page 2 of 3 Apple’s explanation to the ASA continued: “Apple said the Safari web browser on the iPhone was built to open internet standards, the same as Safari on a home or office computer, and supported open standard languages such as CSS, JavaScript and Ajax. “They said they could not ensure compatibility with every third party technology in the marketplace and, in order to create the best customer experience, had created their platform on open standards. They said Java and Flash were examples of proprietary software they had chosen not to enable on the iPhone. “They believed the ad was not about technical details or the functionalities or plug-ins that were available on the iPhone, but the varied websites that users could visit and utilize. They said all the websites featured in the ad were available on the iPhone and were shown as they would be seen by the user. “They said none of the content in the ad was Flash or Java based and the ad did not mention any other technical capabilities of the iPhone. Apple believed that it was clear that the reference in the ad to "all parts of the internet" referred to Internet site availability, not to every aspect of functionality available on every website. “They said the decision not to enable some proprietary software would not affect the ability of the iPhone user to access any part of the internet, only their ability to access particular content that used third party technology.” Clearcast, an agency that clears ads for broadcast in the UK, told the ASA that: “in order to assess the claims, they saw a demonstration of the iPhone and in particular the Internet functionality. They said a number of websites were chosen at random and they appeared to work as described in the ad. They said, on the basis of the demonstration and the advertiser's assurances, they were content to approve the claims relating to access to the Internet.” So, what did the ASA decide and why? Well, as stated, the ASA decided to uphold the complaints and ban the advertisement from being shown on UK television. Its decision was explained thus: “The ASA noted that Java and Flash proprietary software was not enabled on the iPhone and understood that users would therefore be unable to access certain features on some websites or websites that relied solely on Flash or Java. “We noted Apples argument that the ad was about site availability rather than technical detail, but considered that the claims "You’ll never know which part of the Internet you’ll need" and "all parts of the Internet are on the iPhone" implied users would be able to access all websites and see them in their entirety.” The rest of the ASA’s assessment is on page 3. |
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