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[News] Apple Abuses Intellectual Monopolies

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Apple chokes on Woolworths logo

,----[ Quote ]
| Apple has moved to prevent Oz retailer Woolworths from 
| trademarking a logo - something which would allow it to 
| "slap its branding and logo on every imaginable 
| product", as The Age puts it.
`----

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/10/05/apple_woolworths/

Do Morons In A Hurry Shop For iPhones At Woolworths Down Under?

,----[ Quote ]
| Honestly, I have no idea how anyone can claim the two 
| logos are similar in a way that might lead to even the 
| slightest bit of confusion.
`----

http://techdirt.com/articles/20091005/0028486413.shtml


Recent:

Palm Pre backs away from Apple iTunes

,----[ Quote ]
| On Tuesday, a Palm spokeswoman confirmed to The Reg
| that "webOS 1.2 did not reestablish media sync with
| iTunes."
|
| Palm and Apple have been playing hide the salami with
| iTunes syncing since the Pre shipped in June. First
| syncing was in, then it was out. Then in. Then out.
`----

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09/29/no_media_sync_in_new_webos/


Why Apple Should Let Other Devices Connect To iTunes

,----[ Quote ]
| No one's buying Apple hardware because it syncs with
| iTunes. They're buying it for many other reasons, and
| Apple can continue to compete on those. Blocking the
| Pre and other devices from accessing iTunes is petty
| and unnecessary.
`----

http://techdirt.com/articles/20090929/0337136349.shtml


Free iTunes!

,----[ Quote ]
| Apple's hypocritical move to block competitors from accessing its software.
`----

http://www.slate.com/id/2229856/


Mac OS X mistakes and malfeatures

,----[ Quote ]
| In 2005, Apple made users install version 4.7 of iTunes in
| order to continue using the iTunes music store. This "upgrade"
| was billed by Apple as fixing a "security hole." What the
| update actually did was change the iTunes system of Digital
| Restrictions Management (DRM) to make PyMusique stop working.
| PyMusique was free software that allowed GNU/Linux users to
| access the iTunes store...
|
| Apple similarly imposed other incompatible iTunes changes
| later in 2005, and in 2006: users could not play music
| purchased using newer versions of iTunes in older versions of
| iTunes. So users had to update iTunes on all of their
| computers that they wanted to play their own music on, not
| just on the computer that they used to actually purchase the
| DRM-afflicted music. (See
| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FairPlay.)
|
| In 2008, Apple snuck a new DRM malfeature into Quicktime in an
| update advertised as adding a feature for renting movies. This
| malfeature stopped users from playing video files they
| themselves had made....
|
| If Mac OS X does not have a backdoor to forcibly install
| changes, that does not make it ethical. It has other malicious
| features, such as Digital Restrictions Management (see
| http://defectivebydesign.org/apple).
`----

http://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/mac-osx-mistakes-and-malfeatures


Developer: Apple Denied Health Care App for Political Reasons

,----[ Quote ]
| Apple rejected a free iPhone application that advocated a
| single-payer health system, calling the application
| âpolitically charged,â according to the appâs developer.
`----

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/09/apple-denied-health-care-app-for-political-reasons-developer-says/


Related:

EFF Blasts Apple For Fraudulent DMCA Takedown Of Wiki Page

,----[ Quote ]
| The EFF has stepped up to walk through the many, many reasons why there's no
| DMCA violation on the site, and Apple's takedown notice appears to be
| fraudulent. Yes, the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA do say it's
| illegal to offer a technology, product, service, device or device to get
| around DRM, but an open discussion on a wiki is not any of those things.
`----

http://techdirt.com/articles/20081125/2330182955.shtml


The Electronic Frontier Foundation Doesn't Like Apple's Attitude

,----[ Quote ]
| I have to agree. Talk is talk. Encryption and other forms of code obfuscation
| are communally practiced throughout the worlds of proprietary and open source
| software. Also, encryption predates personal computers and Apple by many
| years. Where would security software end up if people were barred, directed
| by lawyers, from ever discussing methods of disguising code?
`----

http://ostatic.com/177097-blog/the-electronic-frontier-foundation-doesnt-like-apples-attitude


Latest Greenpeace Rankings Still Put Apple Down

,----[ Quote ]
| It's almost Thanksgiving, and you know what that means: arguments and
| bickering. Apple and Greenpeace are going at in style: hot on the heels of
| Apple's passive aggressive green MacBook ads, the environmental organization
| has released the latest version of its Guide to Greener Electronics
| which--and come on, are you really surprised?--shows Apple falling in the
| ranks despite its recent improvements.
`----

http://www.pcworld.com/article/154569/.html?tk=rss_news


Green Scorecard Puts IBM Top, Apple Last

,----[ Quote ]
| An organic climate change lobby group has issued green ratings for hardware
| and software-based IT suppliers as well as other businesses. IBM leads the
| IT pack while Apple, Amazon and eBay are bottom with zero green
| credentials.
`----

http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20070703/tc_pcworld/134123


Apple has toxic core: Greenpeace

,----[ Quote ]
| Despite Apple's launch of the eco-friendly iPhone last week,
| Greenpeace is demanding an environmental revolution that will
| shake the company to its core.
`----

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/01/16/greenpeace_slams_apple/


Apple forced to pull misleading UK iPhone ad

,----[ Quote ]
| Apple's latest iPhone advert has been condemned by the ASA for giving the
| impression the phone could download and install applications quickly and
| easily, forcing the firm to pull the ad.
`----

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/26/iphone_ad_pulled/


ASA Adjudications

,----[ Quote ]
| A TV ad, for the iPhone, showed the phone in someone's hand and a finger
| switching it on to reveal the menu page. The finger touched the weather icon
| showing the forecast for Cape Town and then navigated through a Heathrow
| Airport area map, a Safari icon, hotels and stock market webpage.  The iPhone
| rang and the hand was shown answering it.  During the ad, the voice-over
| said " You never know which part of the internet you'll need.  The do you
| need sun cream part? The what's the quickest way to the airport part? The
| what about an ocean view room part? Or the can you really afford this part?
| Which is why all the parts of the internet are on the iPhone".  The ad ended
| with on-screen text that stated "iPhone. Only on O2".
|
| Issue
| Two viewers believed the claim that all parts of the internet were accessible
| was misleading because they understood that the iPhone did not support Flash
| or Java, both integral to many web pages.
`----

http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/Public/TF_ADJ_44891.htm


Apple Levels DMCA on IPodhash Project

,----[ Quote ]
| The worst thing about DRM? The things it makes people do. Take the iPodhash
| project, a group of coders dedicated to reverse-engineering Apple's database
| files on the iPod classic and iPod touch. Doing so allows for third-party
| utilities to access information on the iPod, which is particularly useful for
| those who want to use their iPods on Linux, since there's no version of
| iTunes available for that platform.
`----

http://www.pcworld.com/article/154424/.html?tk=rss_news


EFF Berates Apple Over Open-source ITunes Project

,----[ Quote ]
| Apple's attempt to quash an effort to help the latest iPods and iPhones work
| with non-Apple software such as the Linux operating system is out of line,
| the Electronic Frontier Foundation said Tuesday.
|
| [...]
|
| Because iTunes does not run on Linux, the iPodhash project is important to
| the Linux community, Odio said.
|
| Founded in 2004, Bluwiki is a side project for Odio, an Internet entrepreneur
| who said he supports the iPodhash project even though he's not involved with
| it.
`----

http://www.pcworld.com/article/154533/eff_berates_apple.html?tk=rss_news


The iPhone Is Now Doomed

,----[ Quote ]
| I cannot claim to be a developer, but I have been watching the whole iPhone
| application development issues with interest. As of todayâs news, it appears
| that the iPhone development process is like this:
|
|    1. Ask Apple for permission to make an application.
|    2. Sign a non-disclosure agreement.
|    3. Invest time and money into an iPhone application.
|    4. Ask Apple for permission to sell or give away your application.
|    5. If Apple says YES: start making money and hope Apple does not change
|       their minds.
|       If Apple says NO: shut up and deal with it. If you say anything, Apple
|       can sue you, further raising the wasted investment money.
`----

http://www.linuxloop.com/news/2008/09/23/the-iphone-is-now-doomed/


Podcaster rejeceted because it duplicates iTunes functionality

,----[ Quote ]
| Today I finally got a reply from Apple about the status of Podcaster.
|
| Apple Rep says: Since Podcaster assists in the distribution of podcasts, it
| duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes.
|
| That's right folks, it duplicates the functionality of the desktop version of
| iTunes.
`----

http://almerica.blogspot.com/2008/09/podcaster-rejeceted-because-it.html


As App Store banning continues, iPhone developers protest

,----[ Quote ]
| Developers have already voiced their concern over Appleâs unwritten rules of
| what can and cannot be sold through the App Store, but the situation has
| become even more dire with this most recent round of rejections. It's
| prompted some, such as Fraser Speirs, developer of iPhone Flickr browser
| Exposure, to say that theyâll cease developing for the platform until Apple
| clarifies the rules.
`----

http://www.macworld.com/article/135541/2008/09/appstore_banning.html


Apple Takes the "Tris" Out of iPhone Tetris

,----[ Quote ]
| Now a student named Noah Witherspoon that created an iPhone Tetris knock-off
| called simply "Tris," has been threatened with legal action by The Tetris
| Company. In what he refers to as "petty bullying," the company had Apple
| contact Witherspoon and had him pull the game from the iTunes App Store.
| Apple even told him that they'd take action themselves if he didn't comply.
`----

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/08/26/apple-takes-the-tris-out-of-iphone-tetris


Hackintosh maker bites back at Apple

,----[ Quote ]
| Psystar, the company that sells open systems capable of running Mac OS X,
| plans to fight back against the copyright infringement lawsuit Apple has
| filed against it.
|
| The Miami-based firm said during a press conference this afternoon it plans
| to challenge Apple's long-standing licensing ban on running the Mac operating
| system on non-Apple branded devices.
`----

http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/08/26/psystar_fights_back_against_apple/


Apple rapped for iPhone ad

,----[ Quote ]
| Apple stated that though the iPhone supported open standards, Java and Flash
| were not open-source and required a plug-in to make them work, even using a
| desktop computer.
`----

http://www.webuser.co.uk/news/news.php?id=266312


OpenClip, she is dead

,----[ Quote ]
| For those of you who do not remember - or do not care to remember - OpenClip
| was supposed to be an open framework for implementing the Cocoa NSPasteboard
| functionality to the iPhone. While Iâm thinking that if Apple wanted to
| implement copy/paste into the iPhone they would have done it already or will
| do it soon, OpenClip was a noble effort to work around the limitations of OS
| X on the iPhone.
`----

http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/08/25/openclip-she-is-dead/


Steve Jobs's Obituary, As Run By Bloomberg

,----[ Quote ]
| The Bloomberg financial newswire decided to update its 17-page Steve Jobs
| obituary today â and inadvertently published it in the process. Some
| investors were undoubtedly rattled to see, as our tipster did late this
| afternoon, the Apple CEO's obit cross the wire and then suddenly disappear.
| Jobs's battle with pancreatic cancer, and speculation over his health, jarred
| Wall Street earlier this year and continues to be the subject of speculation.
| The Times weighed in on the matter as recently as last month, when columnist
| Joe Nocera spoke with the secretive tech executive. But news organizations
| routinely prepare obituaries in advance, even for the healthy.
`----

http://gawker.com/5042795/bloomberg-runs-steve-jobs-obituary


Why does Apple Always Seem to Get a Break???

,----[ Quote ]
| Linux. This is the only platform that is not a prison. You are really free
| with Linux. People are congregating at will, building creative new
| structures. Yeah â maybe it isnât as pretty as the luxury hotel prison that
| is Apple, but at least we are free. In the end it isnât prison walls that win
| in technology. CompuServe and AOL were beaten by the internet. Centrally
| controlled mainframes were killed by the PC. Over time the best technology
| comes from innovation in unexpected places and while we are occasionally
| wooed by the pretty sounds of âYouâve Got Mailâ or the stunning design of a
| new iPhone; we have all seen this movie before and know how it ends.
`----

http://www.linux-foundation.org/weblogs/jzemlin/2008/08/24/why-does-apple-always-seem-to-get-a-break/


Steve Jobs thinks he is disabled

,----[ Quote ]
| APPLE MESSIAH Steve Jobs has been a bit sick lately but according to US
| gossip reports it could be a lot worse than anyone thought.
|
| The sultan of smug has been seen parking his motor in a disabled carparks in
| Palo-Alto much to the horror of Apple fans who believe him to be capable of
| healing the sick with his beautiful entertainment toys.
`----

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/08/26/steve-jobs-thinks-disabled
http://tinyurl.com/5ugeuf


Apple's Jobs brushes aside backdating concerns

,----[ Quote ]
| After presiding over a 50 percent rise in Apple's stock over the
| past year, CEO Steve Jobs can afford to shrug off shareholder
| questions about stock option backdating and environmental policies.
`----

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-6182965.html


Apple board backs Jobs against ex-CFO allegations shock

,----[ Quote ]
| Apple's Board of Directors is backing CEO Steve Jobs after former
| CFO Fred Anderson accused Jobs approving the company's stock
| option backdating. Anderson settled civil charges against him
| Tuesday without admitting any guilt, but agreeing to pay back
| approximately $3.5m to make up for personal gains in the scandal.
`----

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/25/apple_q2_revenues_2007/


Options troubles aren't over for Apple

,----[ Quote ]
| But one of the accused -- former Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson --
| pointed a finger at his former boss, Steve Jobs, raising new accusations
| that experts say could land Jobs in some legal hot water if true.
|
| [...]
|
| Gene Munster, a financial analyst at Piper Jaffray, said Anderson's
| accusations will fuel investors' worries over Jobs and his critical role in
| Apple's continued success.
|
| "It gives the appearance that, 'I had a partner in crime and it was Steve
| Jobs,'" Munster said.
`----

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070425/ap_on_hi_te/apple_stock_options


Microsoft's past stock options practice poses questions

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft in 1999 announced that it would end a policy of awarding
| options at monthly lows and said it would take a $217 million charge,
| though many details of that discontinued practice haven't been widely
| known, The Wall Street Journal said Friday.
|
| Those details raise questions about how Microsoft began the practice,
| what prompted the company to end it and whether the way the options
| were dated--at 30-day lows the month after they were
| granted--influenced other companies, it said.
`----

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6084617.html


gal silences Hymn

,----[ Quote ]
| Apple has fired a cease and desist order against the developers behind the
| open-source Hymn Project.
|
| Hymn develops software that strips Apple's FairPlay digital rights management
| (DRM) technology from user's iTunes purchases, allowing music fans to play
| their music on devices other than those from Apple.
`----

http://www.macworld.co.uk/ipod-itunes/news/index.cfm?newsid=20538&pagtype=allchandate


Apple goes auntie over slasher comic

,----[ Quote ]
| the application because it breaches their SDK license, serving up content
| that "...in Apple's reasonable judgment may be found objectionable". The
| problem is that this restriction only applies to applications. Dodgy movies,
| episodes of South Park or even The Breakfast Club are perfectly acceptable
| iTunes content.
`----

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/26/apple_cca/


A Linux User's Perspective on the ITunes Store (and DRM in General)

,----[ Quote ]
| What if tomorrow you went to Best Buy or Walmart or Sam Goody and purchased a
| CD? What if, before you left the store, the salesman told you that although
| the CD was in all other respects a standard CD, that you could only play it
| if you owned a Pioneer or Sony stereo? Would that make any sense? Would it
| make you a bit hesitant about buying music from that store again?
|
| Well, if you purchase music or videos from the iTunes Store,
|
| [...]
|
| With content from the iTunes Store, however, users may find themselves a bit
| stuck if they ever want to make the switch to a more open computing platform,
| such as Linux. Because none of the DRM-restricted content from the iTunes
| Store will play on Linux. And it's all because that's how Apple wants it, to
| be honest, and not because of any technical limitation.
`----

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/324936/a_linux_users_perspective_on_the_itunes.html


Apple's latest trick to enforce digital rights

,----[ Quote ]
|
| [...]
|
| With this version of iTunes, users were finding that music
| subjected to the old download-burn-rip would no longer
| load onto their iPods.
`----

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/06/09/10131156.html


Apple failing to understand open source

,----[ Quote ]
| There is a cost for not being a good Open Source citizen and that
| cost is loss of goodwill in the community. That loss is more
| expensive in the long run than Apple realizes.
`----

http://www.oreillynet.com/mac/blog/2007/03/apple_failing_to_understand_op.html


Mozilla exec calls Apple's Safari plan 'duopolistic'

,----[ Quote ]
| In the speech predicting how Apple would expand its market share, Jobs showed
| a slide with Safari dominating almost a quarter of the market--a market
| shared only with a single other browser, Internet Explorer.
|
| Lilly says he doesn't believe that this was an omission or simplification,
| but instead an indication that Jobs is hoping to steal people who use Firefox
| and other smaller browsers in order to run a "duopoly" with Redmond.
`----

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6191562.html


Researcher Blasts Apple for 'Negligent' Patching

,----[ Quote ]
| A researcher who went public last month with the first iPhone vulnerability
| says Apple's updating of the open-source components it uses in Mac OS X is
| inexcusable and negligent.
`----

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,135589-c,macos/article.html


Wozniak hates Open Sauce

,----[ Quote ]
| In an interview with eWeek, Woz said that there are always people who want
| things to be free and the open-source movement starts with those sort of
| people.
`----

http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inquirer/news/2007/09/25/wozniak-hates-open-sauce
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