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Apple Patents Remotely Disabling Jailbroken Phones
An anonymous reader writes "Apple yesterday applied for a patent to allow remotely disabling electronic devices when 'unauthorized usage' is detected. The patent application covers using the camera to take pictures of the unauthorized user and using GPS to determine location, and it involves ascertaining whether the phone has been hacked or jailbroken, using those as criteria for detecting 'suspicious behavior.' The patent would allow the carrier or any other 'authorized' party to disable or restrict the functionality of the device. Is this Apple's latest tool to thwart jailbreaking?"
Can you scream "privacy issue" so hard that blood is expelled from every single one of your orifices? DRM is pretty bad, but this is just sickfuckery.
Disagree != mod troll.
Who knows. Maybe if Darth Jobs' empire pushes too hard, some of his lobotomy cult will eventually get the idea.
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THANK GOD!!!
Unauthorized user? By whose definition?
You're assuming it's your definition.
Judging by Steve Job's previous actions, an unauthorized user could be:
-Anyone who installs an application Apple has not formally approved of (Apple store)
-Anyone who uses unauthorized hardware in conjunction with the device (proprietary monitor connections)
-Anyone who does an unauthorized review of an upcoming product (AppleSecrets, iPhone 4 vs. Engadget)
-Anyone who touches an Apple product wrong (Antennagate)
The camera simply lets them prove, in court, exactly who did the unauthorized deed just before the phone was bricked. And face recognition software is so normal, now, that even my Nintendo DSi has it....you think they won't know when they get a good face shot on that forward-facing camera?
Because they have declared jailbreaking to be amongst the behaviors that "naturally" cause them to suspect the phone has been stolen.
You see, they're not harassing you because you did something perfectly legal that they don't like, they're harassing you because the perfectly legal thing you did that they don't like makes them suspect you may have done something illegal.
In other news, speaking out against the patriot act is surely a sign of supporting terrorists.
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