Bonum Certa Men Certa

Apple Redefines Freedom, Lies About Its Products, Blocks Competitors, and Helps Microsoft



Summary: Apple's misbehaviour not only attracts an antitrust probe but it also shows whose interests Apple is serving (other than its own)

Steve Jobs is against freedom. He just is. He redefines freedom by calling the banning of everything he does not endorse the "freedom" from this thing (be it competition, GPL-licensed software, or pornography). Skip to around 22 minutes from the start of this new video from Professor Larry Lessig. Lessig is a longtime Mac user, but he really gives it to Jobs in that talk. He also recognises that GNU/Linux (yes, he calls it "GNU Linux") is the better way to go.



Here is the latest example of controversial censorship by Apple. [via]

Not since Amazon removed digital copies of "1984" from people's Kindles while they slept has there been such a hilarious episode in the ongoing slapstick farce "Let's See What Happens When Corporations Become Publishers."

Apple has censored a "Ulysses" comic book app -- just in time for "Bloomsday" -- because of a picture of Buck Mulligan's stately, plump cartoon penis.


There are many examples just like that. Apple is still controlling people's phones, as a gatekeeper at least.

According to this article, Apple may be faking its sales figures (statistics being gamed).

During his WWDC 2010 keynote address, Apple CEO Steve Jobs boasted that the iPhone was currently number two behind RIM in smartphone sales. He quoted a Nielsen survey but there was a noticeable absentee in Apple’s stats - Symbian. So what’s the truth?


Apple's fake or artificial hype is a subject that we covered here many times before. "Lies, damned lies, and technology hype" is the headline of this new article about Apple's numbers.

Now we come to Apple's latest anti-competitive practices. "Apple Wants to Kill Its Mobile Advertising Competitors," says this article:

Apple (AAPL) seemed to relent on letting other advertising networks have access to iPhones and iPads. But that’s an illusion. The company’s actions, in context, show that Steve Jobs wants to completely lock down advertising and control all forms of revenue when it comes to iOS. The result is now an escalating level of federal scrutiny that should make any CEO nervous.


More coverage in:



Google has already responded:



TechCrunch has published "The Conundrum Of Being An Independent Mobile Ad Network Under Apple’s Rules" and Tobin drew our attention to the lack of control over corporate power. Will the government step in to counter Apple? Well, before Apple's hypeAd service is even launched, an antitrust concern [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] goes through and the "FTC Will Investigate Apple," says AndroidGuys (biased source, but there are others like Wired).

“Apple not only dishonours freedom but it also supports other companies that dishonour freedom.”Given that Google's CEO used to serve in Apple, one would think that Apple should support Google but it is helping Microsoft in new ways [1, 2, 3] although only to an extent. According to more boosting from Todd Bishop, it's not just Safari but hypePhone too where Apple links to Microsoft. This is not the first time that Apple helps Microsoft. They have a lot in common.

In conclusion, Apple cannot be trusted by Free software proponents. Apple not only dishonours freedom but it also supports other companies that dishonour freedom. Why pretend that this is not the case?

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Rust People: Drain the Swap, You're Holding It Wrong
Does Rust make sense?
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, linuxconfig.org, and Plagiarised Phoronix
Many articles out there are nowadays fake
European Patent Office Illegally Gutting and Outsourcing Its Functions, Acting Like an Above-the-Law Commercial Business (It Won't Stop at Formalities Officers (FOs) and Classification Slop at the EPO)
breaking/violating laws and conventions
Links 19/09/2025: Lobbyist of American GAFAM Becomes Data Protection Commissioner in Europe
Links for the day
 
Links 20/09/2025: Internet Shutdowns, Media Censorship, and Climate Worries
Links for the day
About 700 New Gemini Capsules in 13 Months (or 54 Per Month)
4.8K would represent a 20% increase
Techrights the Name Turns 15
About 6 weeks from now we turn 19
Microsoft is Running Out of Time and Floating Fake Figures, Fake Projects, Fake Narratives, Fake Excuses
Also, a lot of Microsoft's "revenue" claims are circular financing (i.e. Microsoft buying from itself, which means Ponzi-like fraud)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 19, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Navigating the Pressures of Modern Life and SpellBinding Accidentally Wrote Another Gemini Server
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Press Freedom Dying in US, Anti-Austerity Strikes in France, and Alan Rusbridger to Leave 'Prospect'
Links for the day
Offloading to the Sister Site
In the interest of not overwhelming readers
Links 19/09/2025: Coffee Club and "SpellBinding is Now Absurdly Fast"
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Media Freedom Ceases to Exist in US, "Consider Dropping Twitter/X"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/09/2025: Thinking and Insect Bites
Links for the day
Microsoft E.E.E.: Git Will Now (or Very Soon) Fully Depend on Rust, Which is Controlled by Microsoft
Microsoft now makes Git dependent on Rust, or making Git dependent on GitHub, which is proprietary
The Right to Punch People (Apparently)
At Brett Wilson, Brett's job title is "Head of Crime" and Wilson normalises calls for violence
Slop or Fake Articles Have Turned Linux Journal From a Pioneering/Trailblazing "Linux" Magazine Into a Nuisance
some sites with former reputation - good reputation - turn into cesspools
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 18, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, September 18, 2025
Brett Wilson LLP Seem to Have Had Only One Litigation Client in 2025, He Was Previously Charged, Just Like the Serial Strangler From Microsoft (Whom They Now Represent)
Karma is superstition, regulators are not
Project 2030 to Cover How "Project 2025"-Styled Anti-Media Zealots From America Targeted Techrights and Tux Machines
The common denominator is also their attacks on women
Brett Wilson LLP Failed to Meet Deadlines Set by Judge 7 Months Earlier, Tried to Ruin Our Holiday, Then Had the Audacity to Ask Us for Over 3,000 Pounds for Its Own Lateness
As a matter of principle we will never respond to assassin while we are on holiday
On Claims That After Bluewashing Red Hat Will Increasingly Become an Indian Company
Discussed this week (long and detailed)
Americans Attacking British Sites Only Months After They Leave America
We find it kind of funny if not ironic that this site, originally an American site, got legal harassment only from Americans and only months after it had moved to the UK
Despite Losing Over a Quarter Million Dollars a Year Software in the Public Interest (SPI) Gives Helping Hand to Libreboot
SPI's financial state depends a lot on its public image or its reputation
Slopwatch: Google Helps Plagiarism and Sends Traffic to Ripoff Artists
That Google as a company helps spamfarms is noteworthy
If You Want to Know the Future, Listen to the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and Andy Farnell
We're sure the FSF will have plenty of its own output
Links 18/09/2025: A Taliban Ban on Internet Access and Troubled US Job Market
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/09/2025: Computer Literacy and Accessing Alhena's Database
Links for the day
Links 18/09/2025: US War on Media (Truth Banned, Cancel Culture by the Hard Right), NYT Chief Executive Warns Cheeto is Deploying ‘Anti-press Playbook'
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, September 17, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, September 17, 2025