The ugly side of Apple

Sam Varghese
Friday, 20 February 2009 04:35

IT Industry - Market

The EFF argues that iPhone jailbreaking (Apple products generate their own jargon as benefits members of a cult), that allows installation of applications that are not approved to be part of the App Store, is protected under fair-use principles.

In a circular, the EFF says: "Although hundreds of thousands of iPhone owners have already jailbroken their phones, Apple is likely to argue that the act of jailbreaking violates the DMCA's ban on circumventing software locks. In an effort to lift this legal cloud, EFF has proposed that the Copyright Office grant a 3-year exemption from the DMCA to permit jailbreaking.

"Apple's shackling iPhone owners to the iTunes App Store has nothing to do with protecting Apple software from piracy. Instead, it's all about limiting competition and innovation on the iPhone platform. For example, Apple has refused to approve iPhone apps that compete with Apple's own software, such as Mail, Safari, and iTunes. Apple has also censored ebooks from the App Store. And developers of iPhone VoIP applications have also encountered inexplicable delays in app approval."

Apple argument is that jailbreaking the iPhone is an infringement of its copyright because changes which are not authorised are made to the bootloader and operating system.

One can argue for hours on end about the merits and demerits of either side's arguments. Apple's aggressive defence of anything which could potentially cut into its marketshare is bolstered by the increased take-up of its products; increased sales and positive media often give rise to a sheen of arrogance.

The argument runs thus: if I'm doing something that doesn't cut into my profits, I must be doing the right thing.

But even Apple should realise that people will ultimately come to the conclusion that golden handcuffs are also a means of restricting choice. If Safari cannot compete with Firefox, then the answer is to improve the product, not lock others out. The same goes for Skype and Cydia's answer to App Store.

It's good to bear in mind that if the BSDs, all of them free for the taking, had not been around, then there would be no OSX.