Subject: Steve Jobs Wants to Censor You From: "Josh Levy, FreePress.net"Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:28:09 +0000
[1]SavetheInternet.com [1][IMG]
[2]Act Now: Stop Apple's iPhone Kill Switch
Dear Larry,
Think you own your smartphone? Think again.
Apple wants to patent a kill switch technology that can detect when people are using their phone cameras and give corporations the power to shut them down.^1
Think that's bad? Imagine what would happen if this tool fell into the hands of repressive regimes. Thousands of people across the Middle East have used cellphone cameras to document government abuses.
This kind of technology would give tyrants the power to stem the flow of videos and crack down on protesters with impunity.
[3]Sign our letter to Apple CEO Steve Jobs: Demand that Apple stop developing technology that harms democracy and free speech.
Apple says this new technology was designed to stop concertgoers from taking unofficial video at live events. But you can bet that governments and corporations will use it in other, more dangerous ways - to silence the voices of protesters, political opponents or anyone else they dislike.
As Steve Jobs obviously knows, smartphones have become extensions of ourselves. They are incredibly powerful tools for communication education, political expression, community organizing and just plain fun.
[4]Tell Steve Jobs that WE control our phones: Neither Apple nor anybody else can dictate what we photograph and film with them.
Earlier this year, researchers discovered that iPhones recorded your every move for the past year in a hidden but unprotected file.^2 The public was outraged, and Apple soon announced that it was updating its software to better protect users.
We must stop Apple again. This new camera-blocking technology is a pre-emptive strike against free speech. If activated, it would be immensely harmful to our rights to connect and communicate.
Please take action now to urge Steve Jobs to pull the plug on this censorship technology.
Thanks, Josh Levy Online Campaign Manager Free Press www.freepress.net
1. "Is Apple Launching a Pre-emptive Strike Against Free Speech?" Huffington Post, June 22, 2011: [5]http://act2.freepress.net/go/4692?akid=2596.9633377.I38UGX&t=1
2. "Got an iPhone or 3G iPad? Apple is recording your moves," O'Reilly Radar, April 20, 2011: [6]http://act2.freepress.net/go/4627?akid=2596.9633377.I38UGX&t=2
References
Visible links 1. http://act2.freepress.net/go/4626?akid=2596.9633377.I38UGX&t=3 2. http://act2.freepress.net/go/4626?ak_proof=1&akid=.9057871.z0WfPP&t=2&akid=2596.9633377.I38UGX&t=4 3. http://act2.freepress.net/go/4626?akid=2596.9633377.I38UGX&t=5 4. http://act2.freepress.net/go/4626?akid=2596.9633377.I38UGX&t=6 5. http://act2.freepress.net/go/4692?akid=2596.9633377.I38UGX&t=7 6. http://act2.freepress.net/go/4627?akid=2596.9633377.I38UGX&t=8
Comments
Needs Sunlight
2011-06-23 18:34:38
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
2011-06-23 23:29:50
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vodafone_Egypt#Vodafone_Egypt_during_the_2011_riots
Needs Sunlight
2011-06-24 07:58:48
The irony of them moving the protests to Facebook... There's another single point of failure or chokepoint for your.
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
2011-06-24 08:12:07
Needs Sunlight
2011-06-24 10:32:59
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
2011-06-24 14:30:02
Eric-Karl
2011-06-23 21:57:45
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
2011-06-23 23:28:26
Needs Sunlight
2011-06-24 08:05:14
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
2011-06-24 08:10:55
Needs Sunlight
2011-06-24 10:34:42
twitter
2011-06-24 13:03:35
The only thing they understand is sales, so don't buy the devices. Boycotts or digitally restricted music worked with every company but Apple so far. Zune was a colossal failure and so are Microsoft phone efforts because Microsoft's greedy restrictions don't work. As Apple tightens up, their sales will go south. If you must have Apple hardware, buy it used and put free software on it like RockBox or gnu/linux. When you give them money, you fund MPEG-LA and other nasties. You are probably better off buying hardware from a less restrictive company anyway. Tivoized devices are worthless outside their function and the lifespan of that function is intentionally limited. Non free software is always a bad deal.
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
2011-06-24 14:31:37
twitter
2011-06-23 23:16:46
Apple is not the first company to think of this and all non free software has this power. Look up the obnoxious euphemism, "polite device" to see that Microsoft already has a patent on this concept (2008). The Microsoft booster linked to above gushes with what a wonderful thing this would be. Every petty tyrant dreams of this kind of control. Not far from this is the fact that Microsoft mail servers are able to brick your iPhone or other mobile device if you use it that way. All of your contacts, personal and company, are erased and you phone will stop working at the push of a button when you are fired. Use of non free software can be terminated at any time for any reason. The more you depend on it and the more networked a device is, the more you need free software to protect you from this kind of malice.
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
2011-06-24 08:13:33
Needs Sunlight
2011-06-24 09:25:53
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
2011-06-24 09:36:38
Needs Sunlight
2011-06-24 10:46:22
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
2011-06-24 14:33:13
Wayne Borean
2011-06-26 22:42:51
Oracle would also be rated at 8. IBM would be rated at 7. In other words the largest companies in the IT sector are a bunch of Psychopaths.
Wow. Aren't I cheerful today?
Wayne
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
2011-06-27 07:11:39
Wayne Borean
2011-06-27 11:33:09
And it really was too bad, because they managed to ruin the names of two once respected companies.
Wayne
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
2011-06-27 12:38:20