Slashdot Mirror
Apple Hides Samsung Apology So It Can't Be Seen Without Scrolling
An anonymous reader writes "Apple today posted its second Samsung apology to its UK website, complying with requests by the UK Court of Appeal to say its original apology was inaccurate and link to a new statement. As users on Hacker News and Reddit point out, however, Apple modified its website recently to ensure the message is never displayed without visitors having to scroll down to the bottom first."
The lawyers are probably going to get put in front of the bar for their shite advice to these pricks too.
Banned product, I reckon. And some few billion in compensatory damages to Samsung. It seems the only thing they won't weasel out like a spoilt four-year-old is being slammed down hard financially.
Obviously the courts care since they are the ones that mandated Apple provide this info on their site.
When you've been slapped down for contempt of court, your next action really shouldn't be this kind of open contempt. I wonder how Apple's UK employees feel about this disrespect to their courts?
Apple managers are apparently unaware that sneaky behavior is likely to get a big story on Slashdot.
And they have. People whining about scrolling to see it? Get over it, all the stuff on the bottom of their page has required a scroll to see it.
Try READING the court order. They are in full compliance.
- "Scientia non habet inimicum nisp ignorantem"
I wonder exactly how much patience the judges have for this kind of nonsense.
upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
Probably very little, given how quickly they reacted to Apple ignoring the spirit of the law last week. Frankly, I'm stunned that Apple seriously expected that any kind of special treatment of the message posting wasn't doing to get picked up given the level of tech press interest in the UK - the story has even been on the front page of the BBC news site. I'm guessing we'll have wait a few days to find out whether they are going to get another chance to do the right thing by the spirit of the law, or we're just going to go straight to contempt of court and see some more serious punitive action - like having to put the message in place of that nice picture of the iPad Mini.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
How about some facts.
First, the UK website has had this responsive layout for weeks. Also, most other country-specific landing pages of Apple use the same layout (for example German, Austrian websites). With the notable exception being the US site.
Second, Apple was laughed at for claiming to need 2 weeks to implement the new statement on their website. While I agree I could fix something like that in 5 minutes, you just don't fiddle around in the CSS of such a website. In addition to drafting a new text, you have to adjust the code and actually test it, which can't be done in a few days. That the court demanded Apple to fix this in 48hrs, just goes to show how much they understand about this.
You never let the opportunity to lie for Apple's advantage go past you. I have to admire your tenacity, yet loathe your dishonesty.
You seem to care how much money this company makes.
Maybe you should just give them more money just by donating them money, since you think having the smallest userbase with the maximum profit is a good thing.
Blackberry at it's peak had twice as much users (50%+), windows is still dominating (75%+), Samsung has always sold more smartphones...
So why do you want each device to be more expensive for no other reason than to make a company rich?
He posted his screenshot, you post yours.
It's getting harder and harder to defend Apple.
It's 1997, they're near bankruptcy, and St. Steve comes back to save them. They're the underdog, and we cheer for them.
The iMac comes out. OSX comes out. The iBook comes out, with wifi standard, and they start cementing their reputation for avant-garde design paired with avant-garde architecture.
The iPod comes out, and they're clearly on a roll.
Then, the iPhone. Very nice device, miles ahead of everything else, but one niggling problem: the walled garden. Still, that's perfectly defensible: simply a way to preempt any virii, right?
Then they start bricking phones that are jailbroken. WTF, Apple? It's malicious behavior, and can't be explained away by any desire to stop viruses: people who jailbreak aren't Apple's responsibility, they chose that path and Apple should let them walk it.
Then, once Android starts to get really competitive, the suing starts. Sure, some of it may be technically correct - they won a number of their cases, around the world, and phones like the Galaxy S were pretty clearly rip-offs. But Apple wasn't just standing up for its rights, it was competing in the courtrooms instead of the marketplace. They had stopped being the underdog that succeeded through innovation (not invention, innovation - look it up), and started being the establishment that succeeded through inertia and bullying as much as anything else.
And now, they descend even further, and behave petulantly, seeming to agree with the law when it serves their interests and flaunt the law when it doesn't. From a company that advances the state of the art to a company that wants to freeze the state of the art for purely selfish reasons.
its really a good thing that I'm not a UK judge.
I'd have zero problem fining them 10% of their annual UK profits.
10% isn't enough to kill anyone but it surely is enough to sting.
screw with the ruling again and it doubles. each fucking time!
look, apple is toying with the courts and laughing at them.
UK judges: strike back and show them who's boss. please! we're all hoping for a huge slap-down to put them back in line.
spoilt children do need to be taught a lesson. and one that actually hurts so that they remember it.
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
It's obvious that Samsung copied the iPad design. Apple did the right thing putting the link exactly where they did. And yes, it does take 2 weeks to update large scale web sites if proper processes are in place.
THIS, this right here, is why I can't understand why MSFT is blowing billions jumping into the shark tank that is ARM powered mobile devices. Frankly Apple is the ONLY one making reliable money, the rest are caught in a race to the bottom, HTC has had some bad quarters, so has Samsung, the rest are looking ready to lose their shirts. the chips are changing too fast, they have too much stock, and frankly nobody looks at anything but the price...except for Apple.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, even in a downturn Apple will make out like bandits because they are NOT a tech company that makes fashionable devices, they are a fashion company that happens to work in tech. This is actually a GOOD thing for Apple fans, just look at lines around the block and people paying crazy markup for Air Jordans. Fashion seems immune when it comes to downturns for the most part, and even when article after article bitches about their memory prices...they keep right on buying.
So any company trying to jump into that blood soaked shark tank is frankly more than a little insane, and anybody that thinks they'll make iMoney with Android or WinRT are frankly delusional. Mark my words you'll see dual core 7 inch tablets for $50, the prices will drop so low it'll practically be throwaway devices. The only one that will be making consistent profits will be Apple, and this is coming from someone who doesn't even own an iPod.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Trolls trolling trolls... it's like Inception or something.
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
THIS, this right here, is why I can't understand why MSFT is blowing billions jumping into the shark tank that is ARM powered mobile devices. Frankly Apple is the ONLY one making reliable money, the rest are caught in a race to the bottom, HTC has had some bad quarters, so has Samsung, the rest are looking ready to lose their shirts. the chips are changing too fast, they have too much stock, and frankly nobody looks at anything but the price...except for Apple.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, even in a downturn Apple will make out like bandits because they are NOT a tech company that makes fashionable devices, they are a fashion company that happens to work in tech. This is actually a GOOD thing for Apple fans, just look at lines around the block and people paying crazy markup for Air Jordans. Fashion seems immune when it comes to downturns for the most part, and even when article after article bitches about their memory prices...they keep right on buying.
So any company trying to jump into that blood soaked shark tank is frankly more than a little insane, and anybody that thinks they'll make iMoney with Android or WinRT are frankly delusional. Mark my words you'll see dual core 7 inch tablets for $50, the prices will drop so low it'll practically be throwaway devices. The only one that will be making consistent profits will be Apple, and this is coming from someone who doesn't even own an iPod.
It isn't necessarily about making money, IMO. It is about creating an ecosystem that allows their existing product to continue to thrive. As more and more people embrace mobile, and as the tablet and the laptop continue to converge, it seems apparent that Microsoft can't just keep on delivering new releases of Windows and Office. Eventually, as Google Apps continue to improve and make headway, as Google releases the Chromebook and such alternatives take root, there is going to be fewer and fewer things that are keeping people in the Microsoft world.
Even if Microsoft's mobile venture doesn't win them huge sums of money, inroads in market share means that the Windows experience is out there as a viable alternative moving forward. Delivering an ecosystem where Windows applications can run on both the desktop and the mobile device means that development for the Windows platform can continue. If enterprises are forced to support Android and/or iOS anyway then there is no reason to build anything that takes advantage of Microsoft unique features. If Microsoft can put forth a unified ecosystem where enterprises can be convinced to target the Windows platform, that is a huge win for the long term viability of Microsoft.
I have no idea what I had for lunch last Wednesday.
Not everyone has a piss-poor memory.
I know what I had for lunch last Wednesday. Why? Because I don't stumble through life blindly moving from one moment to the next!
Had I checked out Apples page like the parent last week, I would have certainly taken note of both the position and content in the footer due to all the talk about how Apple was likely to bury the link there. Not that it would have been terribly difficult to call to mind the look of a page I'd seen recently!
Still, your argument boils down to "I have a bad memory therefore the parent is lying!" Not too convincing...
Required reading for internet skeptics
They can't keep up for the simple reason that they are riding a bubble, and sooner or later the bubble will pop, as it happens to all bubbles.
My point is that Apple bubbles inflated very fast, far beyond their ability to sustain it, especially considering the increased competition they are having to endure.
Yes, Google's bubble will eventually pop, but it may take a decade or more for it to happen, and Google has a lot of time to create safeguards, which they have actively being doing for some time now.
Apple's bubble, on the other hand is going to burst much sooner and they havent been doing much in order to safeguard themselves against the eventuality.
Fining 10% of profits does not in and of itself cost jobs, as those are profits - therefore, the jobs can still be kept without causing loss to the company. So if Apple decides to fire people just to reinflate profits, I wouldn't exactly blame a court judgement for that.
"16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
UK and Samsung at Tanagra. Their arms closed.
You're right - NoScript completely gets rid of the scaling. That guy's previous screenshot was made with NoScript enabled!
Ordering the apology be put on their web page was done so that customers would see the apology, it is therefore apparent that the court wanted the apology to be plainly visible. Public apologies are ordered by the courts all the time and screwing around with them even while remaining within the strict letter of the order is blatant contempt of court and is generally treated severely by the courts. Add to that, apple seem to have removed the redirect from the US site to the UK one it becomes more obvious that apples intention here is to go against the spirit of the order by ensuring as few people see it as possible. Apple are playing chicken with the courts, somehow I don't think the courts will swerve first.
I wonder if a creative judge wouldn't have an original redress, like:
On apple.com, and all your international sites, in the languages you already display, you must display the apology in a click-thru manner, such as NO customer to any apple property is unaware that
Dear customers, we've been found before British court to have falsely accused samsung of theft. Moreover we've been found also by the british court, in contempt of court for not informing our british customers of such.
Please click here to continue to your normal apple site.
They obviously value publicity far more than money, and should be hit appropriately.
There's a good argument that the judge wouldn't have the power to order them to change any non-.co.uk sites, as they're not under his jurisdiction.
Apple's more recent success was in creating and filling a market that hadn't previously been properly established and expanded. Full credit to it for its imagination and high standards with regards to usability. Its success has also been to exploit the lackluster performance of Microsoft, which seemed to have become complacent in its market dominance. However Apple plays dirty, and it is worse than Microsoft in its lock-down and lock-in attitude to its systems. That is its weakness, and Google has had some success with Android because of this. Microsoft is the dark horse this time I think because if it can produce a software development platform that straddles the x86 architecture and also ARM, it can kick Apple's arse. Sadly, Linux once again is left a bit in the cold, except in its Android incarnation. I wish the hardware on smartphones and tablets was more open.
Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]
The lawyers are probably going to get put in front of the bar for their shite advice to these pricks too.
You think the lawyers are advising MS to do this. I doubt it. More likely the lawyers are trying to tell Apple not to do this. If Apple keeps it up much longer, no lawyer in the EU is going to want to represent Apple.
So tell me, which jobs would be shed?
Which people are Apple employing unnecessarily, that they could currently shed to gain 10% additional profits, and have decided against shedding, but would shed to regain 10% of their profits?
If those jobs were surplus to the efficient and effective operations of the business, a corporation would already have shed them.
Sorry, I don't trust you at all.
Exactly, PE ratio and debt-equity have nothing to do with growth ratios, and stagnation in growth ratio is what burst bubbles. Share prices can only keep artificially high while there is perspective of growth. As soon as growth stops share prices are soon to follow and companies start to sink.
Apple has an extremely restrict product portfolio, especially compared to Google in the real world (which is not your fantasy world), and Android is far from being a economical failure for Google as you paint, quite the opposite, actually.
But keep to your delusions. Lets see in a few years where Apple and Google stand and then you can come and apologize to me. I will be waiting.
motherfuckers!!
dammit. they went OUT OF THEIR WAY to do this.
easy to verify. I normally have noscript enabled and also adblock. apple.com is on my block list for jscript and so when I resized my window to an extremely tall size first, then went to apple's page, I could see the apology line.
go to noscript and enable apple.com for jscript, and what do you know!? no matter how big I make the browser window (even exceeding my screen height) the bottom 'apology' is hidden.
again, I say, motherfuckers!.
this is clear and willful spitting in the face of the law.
I'd like to see all apple sales BANNED for one full year from the UK.
this is bullshit. total bullshit.
apple, we hate you more than ever. you do realize that, right?
javascript games. my god! and they think they can get away with it?
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
For Apple to post a statement that purports to be from Apple stating that Samsung did not copy would be ridiculous, because it's already won judgments in other jurisdictions that say Samsung did copy.
Apple spread the suggestion that Samsung had infringed on their IP. A court found that Samsung did not infringe. The court has ruled that Apple make it clear that Samsung did not infringe, to correct the damage caused by their initial list.
You may call that juvenile. I consider it to be a reasonable request. Other jurisdictions are utterly irrelevant and the ruling didn't even demand that Apple state that Samsung didn't copy, merely draw attention to the lack of infringement and link to the case.
Let the people know their judges are looking to deceive them.
Please. Tell me how the judges are trying to deceive people. Quote the specific sentence or sentences in the transcript from the court. Because I've read it and the only attempts at deception that I can see come from Apple.
Since when are judges supposed to care about numbers of jobs? They're law-interpreting machines, not economic strategists. That's for the politicians to worry about.
More importantly Samsung has diversity. Their top end Galaxy S3 has recently passed the 30 million sales mark, but they also do a large number of other phones and tablet devices. They also manufacture many of the components, including the CPUs and screens. Samsung has valuable patents on key phone related tech.
Apple has the iPhone and iPad. If they ever go out of fashion Apple is screwed.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC