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iTunes Prohibits Terrorism
Afforess writes "A recent closer look at the oft-skimmed EULA agreement for iTunes has an interesting paragraph in it, Gizmodo reports. 'You also agree that you will not use these products for any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture or production of missiles, or nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.' Although humorous, some readers suggested that this may be a defense measure to previously discussed price changes in the iTunes music store."
That language probably came right from the EULA for Mac OS X.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
"genius" mode made me want to kill the guy who designed it.
This has been in apple product license agreements for years. I first remember stumbling into it back in the summer of 2004, and I imagine its been in there for much longer.
http://www.aaronrogier.net
Seriously how old is this. These aren't recent changes it's been in there for a while.
It's a joke. Haha. Isn't it cool that at least someone at Apple has a sense of humor
As long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields.
I'm not sure terrorists are terribly concerned with the fine details of an EULA... could be wrong though.
Terrorism? According to past & present US administrations, this aint abut terrorism. When our allies use missiles to knowingly bomb populations containing civilians, women & children this is collateral damage.
Totally different from terrorism, which is using missiles to deliberately bomb containing civilians, women & children. One is evil, one, according to past & present US administrations, the other is not.
Personally, I don't see the huge moral chasm between two reprehensible murderous acts.
Maddox already noted this 2 years earlier than the article in March of 2007: http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=macs_cant
This has been around since itunes 4, or maybye even earlier than that.
I hope Apple doesn't enforce this provision too strongly.
I can't find it on google, but I recall hearing about some jail where they published a 'Prisoner Code of Conduct' that prohibited inmates from committing acts of terrorism. I though it was the most hilarious thing I'd ever heard, but I suppose if it were true someone would have posted something about it somewhere online.
Violating dozens of federal and local laws was one thing, but I for one do not want to run afoul of Apple's EULA!
The idea that you'd use OS X for something as serious as missile development / nuclear simulations is laughable.
An OS tied to a single vendors hardware? I don't think so.
Here it is in my pocket. And I'm not being suicide bombed right now, so you know it works.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Does that mean playing Amy Winehouse at a party is off limits?
Isn't it a bit of a leap to use the word 'terrorism' as shorthand for "missiles, or nuclear, chemical or biological weapons"? Missiles aren't even necessarily weapons.
When did "weapons development by those the United States doesn't like" become the definition of terrorism?
Property is theft.
I would imagine it has something to do with the export regulations on strong cryptography, something they probably use in their DRM code.
"oft-skimmed EULA agreement" goes to a Gizmodo article.
"interesting paragraph" goes to the whole EULA with no PDF warning.
I assume Gizmodo reprints the EULA in its entirety, while the EULA itself is made up of one interesting paragraph? Or am I supposed to figure out which is the interesting one myself? Here's a novel, I think you'll find one of the passages there very entertaining.
I mean, I was ready to complain when I couldn't tell which was the main link and which were merely supporting materials. But this is just pure shod. That is to say, it's like shod in a way, shoddy, shod-like.
I suppose I should start complaining about those, so that people will be a bit self-conscious about submitting actual targets of ricicule like this one.
So as the plane was about to fly into the WTC, it miraculously swerves and avoids it. The hijackers voice comes over the PA system: "Passengers, We have just realized that the act we were about to perform would violate our iPod EULA. We may be foaming at the mouth islamofacists, but we're passionate about quality as well. We will return you to the airport and hijack a bus to the nearest Apple store."
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/13/iphone_taliban/
Somebody actually read the EULA, I simply thought it was an old design tradition. Just write a big block of text and include a "Next" button. Variants may include clicking one or more checkboxes.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
I just did an RMA on a Hitachi hard drive and had to agree to a sentence exactly like that. According to the page it was for export outside the US, although even in the US you had to agree.
Something similar probably shows up in regards to almost any hardware that might end up overseas, although the customer may never see it.
Terrorist #1: Hey, did you read the EULA for this thing?
Terrorist #2: No. Why?
Terrorist #1: All the more reason to bomb them into the Stone Age. Here we are, building a nuclear weapon, and those crazy Americans are sweating the LEGAL ramifications.
1. Download annoying teeny-bop music from itunes
2. Terrorism
3. ????
4. Profit.
Now WTH am I going to do?
This is extremely old and not unique to the latest version of iTunes.
Forcing someone to listen to the manufactured hip-hop coming out today would probably be an effective way to make prisoners talk. "Ok, Ok, I'll tell you what you want to know! Just turn off that Usher song PLEASE!!!"
On a serious note, I seem to recall an EULA saying something about the software not being suitable for use in Nuclear plants. I think it was Redneck Rampage.
Terrorists around the world were heard saying: "Curses, foiled again..."
Best "String" Ever!
HAHAHAHAH! a st*p*d license!!!!
They'll have to just scrawl their taunts on the sides of the bombs with chalk, rather than have them embellished with beautifully proportioned females and flaming decals.
Oh hell, who am I kidding, they can just use wingdings.
I knew about this from Maddox a long time ago,
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=macs_cant
...I mean the itune's EULA thing has been talked about since a very long time... I don't see how this is news... is so old.
... to run it on mission critical medical equipment?
8==8 Bones 8==8
Don't post this like this is new or unique, for God's sakes. Maddox had this up aaages ago; respect!
I somehow feel that terrorists would not want to pay for a license from Microsoft or Apple. And even a pirated version of Windows would make them very nervous everytime automatic updates ran, would you like your system connecting to an American company's servers when American Predator drones are flying overhead waiting for intelligence on your location. I guess you could run Windows unpatched, but that's just going to make suicide bombers press the detonator early. Linux has a more international flavor, which would appeal to the global jihadist.
Maybe I'm wrong and Osama has an iBook.
WoW!!!!
A portion of each sell on iTunes goes into the US Treasury!
iTunes will rescue the US Budget!
US Budget: Cough ... Cough ... Whezze ... Whezze
iTunes: Kiss ... Kiss ... Kiss ... Kiss
US Budget: ... Uhhh? ... Wha? ... ????
US Budget: [Looks into camera with Big Crest Smile] ... I'M ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!
Back to the drawing board...
'You also agree that you will not use these products for any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture or production of missiles, or nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.'
Does this mean the DMCA extends to all users of iTunes? Or does it only mean that you can't use iTunes to circumvent technology that prevents or controls access and copying?
Does this make it illegal to rip CDs? Before the intarnets and CD burners, having the music only available on a physical object that you couldn't copy was effectively a copy prevention technology.
The latter is probably a far-fetched interpretation; but look at RIAA lawyers---far fetched seems to fit well inside their modus operandi. On the other hand, if you're outside the US, do you have anyone that are quite as aggressive whom you need to fear?
Does this inclusion of US law also include US case law? Does this make it illegal to use iTunes to produce and sell coffee that's unduly hot (unless it says so on the cup)?
Anyone knows some cases dealing with similar wordings which "exports law"?
Either the UN gives me One Billion Dollars
or...
I'll turn on the Genius Sidebar!!!!!!!!!!!
You can't build missles with iTunes. Fair enough, but what kind of missles? Say I am working on an amateur rocket, one of the simple kits you used to be able to buy and I listen to my iPod (not that I got an iPod, I got an iRiver all the cool of the small i in front without the cost) am I in violation?
Is iTunes banned for NASA? Note that the language states things US laws forbids INCLUDING work on missles, this reads as including legal work on missles.
EULA's, yet another sign lawyers should be shot. Why people need another sign I don't know, the sheer fun of it should be enough for any red blooded male.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Interesting question, although, as far as I can tell, EULAs are still relatively hotly contested in and of themselves as being a legally binding agreement.
As a side-note, I'm not sure you made it very clear, but I think what you were trying to say is that it has no effect on US users (in order to be in breach of the EULA, the user has to be already breaking the law), it only has an effect in countries where the EULA holds as a binding agreement, but laws are different. The best example I can think of this is (probably) Canada, where filesharing is legal, and comes under fair-use (I believe). However, in the US, this constitutes copyright infringement, and is against the law. That means a Canadian who has perfectly legally acquired music in their country who uses iTunes is in breach of the EULA.
If I'm wrong, sorry, I'm not trying to put words in your mouth, but it's an interesting point regardless.
you fucktards! I HOPE YOU DIE ALL FROM CANCER!
this EULA is not NEW!
CANCER FOR ALL OF YOU! DIE DE DIE
good decision by apple, benefit for all geeks ..
Best Regards, Eliena Andrews
Rather than make yourself foolish AND use a dubiously applicable contract of adhesion to dodge the stupid laws you let get in.
GPL only infects what you WANT it to infect. If you don't want your code GPL'd, write your own.
Heck, you can use the algorithm in the code to design your replacement.
So this is viral in the same way as snogging is viral: lots of people do it and when they do, they want to do more. And it requires at least one more person agree. But you don't have to.
It's probably when playing pirated music becomes a terrorist act.
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/10/1320211&art_pos=3
Wasn't this added in after the PR nonsense about the G3 being classified as a "supercomputer?"
Sometimes, life itself is sarcasm...
I suspect this clause appears in the OS X eula (i never read it), but I used to work for a project funded by the US Army to develop HPC technology to support one hypersonic missile researcher. He was a Mac guy, and eventually we became Mac people. Anyway, now I'm working at a cancer research laboratory, and still using OS X (although all my computationally intensive stuff runs on my Linux cluster - I use OS X for my workstation where I prototype/develop and then move over to the cluster when I need to run big computations (hundreds/thousands of CPU/hours)
I guess that will stop the terrorists! I'd hate to be in their shoes now.
That is all.
bash.org put it much more laconic and eloquent more than a year ago: http://bash.org/?809452
... but I can still use short clips of Kylie Minogue's 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' as a personal defence sonic stun weapon, right?
You are not a brain: http://books.google.com/books?id=2oV61CeDx-YC
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=macs_cant
This is just a legal disclaimer because iTunes includes algorithms that may be listed as dual-use items, similar to "strong" cryptography.
You see, its a not too well known fact that you can create atomic bomb simulations by writing iTunes visualizer plugins. The better your design, the bigger the explosion on the screen.
And interestingly enough, all modern US atomic weapons license House of Pain's "Jump Around" directly from iTunes ... something about a timing dependency, I'm not sure.
Now the rumor that the whole US economy can be modeled with a secret visualizer run against "Bohemian Rhapsody" is just crazy.
-- I browse at +5 with stripped sigs