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Boycotts Against Apple and Microsoft, Class Action Likely Coming

Pie filling



Summary: iPhone development leads to boycott threats and so does bias in Bing; Microsoft likely to be sued over Xbox 360 bans

IT IS NO SECRET that Apple mistreats developers not just because of software patents; Apple likes to control what's permitted and what's rejected in its universe, which The Register has just compared to a "cult". Over the past few years Apple has rejected many applications and last week we saw some developers calling for a boycott. Amongst others there is just backlash. From the news:



iPhone App Developer Backlash Growing



[..]

Early on, we predicted that Apple's walled garden approach to apps for the iPhone would lead to developer backlash. Even if it was successful at first, the obvious trajectory was that it wouldn't just lead to problems that drove developers away, but it would eventually limit application innovation, just as other competing platforms were getting good enough to match Apple's. We might not be all the way there yet, but the evidence is growing that the backlash is getting serious. Slashdot noted that some respected developers are ditching the iPhone app store and reader Andrew Fong alerts us to Paul Graham's well argued explanation of why Apple's setup is bad for developers, bad for innovation, bad for consumers and bad for Apple.


This is not the first such incident. See for example:



Microsoft's illusion of a search engine (Microsoft is tweaking results for selfish reasons in areas where Microsoft competes) has also just led to this call for a boycott which Microsoft proponents respond to.

Kristof's objection, outlined in a blog post this afternoon, centers around his observation that searches conducted using simplified Chinese characters in Bing return "sanitized pro-Communist results" not just in China but around the world. He questions Microsoft's claim that the results are determined by search algorithms, not its corporate policy. Here's an excerpt from his post.


Lastly, now that Microsoft starts kicking out customers -- probably including innocent ones -- lawyers are looking to sue.

Lawyers pursue banned Xbox Live gamers



[...]

Are you an Xbox 360 owner recently banned from Xbox Live? Has the ban left you feeling short changed? Perhaps you’ve experienced other console problems as a result of the ban? If you can answer 'yes' to any of these questions, then US law firm Abington IP wants to hear from you.


More Xbox 360 problems are listed in this page.

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