EFF slams Apple patent as traitorware

[jlake02]

Interesting article.. discussing the new patent that enables Apple to tell if you jailbroke your phone... basically coins the phrase "traitorware" and says ole Jobs is watching us.

"The EFF weighed in on Apple's recent security software patent. The EFF's post, Steve Jobs Is Watching You: Apple Seeking to Patent Spyware, states, "This patent is downright creepy and invasive - certainly far more than would be needed to respond to the possible loss of a phone. Spyware, and its new cousin traitorware, will hurt customers and companies alike - Apple should shelve this idea before it backfires on both it and its customers.""

Source

Even as someone who doesn't jailbreak his iPhone, I do find this trend disturbing. It's a slippery slope.

 

[ddavid]

Interesting article.. discussing the new patent that enables Apple to tell if you jailbroke your phone... basically coins the phrase "traitorware" and says ole Jobs is watching us.

"The EFF weighed in on Apple's recent security software patent. The EFF's post, Steve Jobs Is Watching You: Apple Seeking to Patent Spyware, states, "This patent is downright creepy and invasive - certainly far more than would be needed to respond to the possible loss of a phone. Spyware, and its new cousin traitorware, will hurt customers and companies alike - Apple should shelve this idea before it backfires on both it and its customers.""

Source

Even as someone who doesn't jailbreak his iPhone, I do find this trend disturbing. It's a slippery slope.

It's also a slippery slope with having hardware hacked and stolen and used for undesigned purposes. What does everyone do when something on their hacked iPhone screws up their hardware? They reinstall iOs and take it to apple and demand a replacement.

What if you tried this with your car? Put on a new carb and a tweaked computer and took it to the track, and when you blew your engine you put the stock stuff back on and wanted warranty service. I ride dirtbikes and with the motocross bikes the warranty ends when you leave the dealer because you can blow your top end in a single race.

 

[stuffradio]

It's also a slippery slope with having hardware hacked and stolen and used for undesigned purposes. What does everyone do when something on their hacked iPhone screws up their hardware? They reinstall iOs and take it to apple and demand a replacement.

What if you tried this with your car? Put on a new carb and a tweaked computer and took it to the track, and when you blew your engine you put the stock stuff back on and wanted warranty service. I ride dirtbikes and with the motocross bikes the warranty ends when you leave the dealer because you can blow your top end in a single race.

What do you mean "hardware hacked and stolen"? Are you saying people who jailbreak their iPhone steal it? I hope you're joking if you do.

 

[KentuckyHouse]

It's also a slippery slope with having hardware hacked and stolen and used for undesigned purposes. What does everyone do when something on their hacked iPhone screws up their hardware? They reinstall iOs and take it to apple and demand a replacement.

What if you tried this with your car? Put on a new carb and a tweaked computer and took it to the track, and when you blew your engine you put the stock stuff back on and wanted warranty service. I ride dirtbikes and with the motocross bikes the warranty ends when you leave the dealer because you can blow your top end in a single race.

Seriously? You really shouldn't even open your mouth if you obviously don't know anything about the subject at hand.

Jailbreaking doesn't screw up your phone. If something goes flaky, there's an easy fix...it's called a restore. I don't ever remember reading about someone who had their HARDWARE messed up by a jailbreak. Maybe SOFTWARE doesn't play nicely with each other, but hardware? C'mon.

I mean, you do actually know the difference between hardware and software, right? Because you really don't sound like you do.

 

[TruckdriverSean]

Here's my response to the clickbait, (I mean article... Sorry) from this morning's thread on the subject.

I've watched the "outrage" over this patent for the last week or so and find that it's mostly just fud. And with all due respect to the EFF, their take on this issue is basically super-fud.

First off, this isn't a business proposal or even a roadmap. It's a patent application. There's a big difference. Hence words like "presumably" get sprinkled liberaly throughout.

Secondly, the reasons for a company to request a patent are many and varied. From protecting future ideas to trying to wall-off competitors or build a patent litigation warchest, it's too early to say what reasons are behind this.

Third, the patent talks a lot about detecting hacks in regard to stolen devices, and outside of business-owned phones (at the request of such a business), it's hard to imagine Apple having any legal covering for flipping the kill switch on a private users device simply because it was jailbroken. (hello class-action lawsuit)

As for collecting biometric data for "authorized user" identification, I'd have to see an actual proposal before I decide whether I'm cool with that or not. (see point one)

 

[Applejuiced]

It's also a slippery slope with having hardware hacked and stolen and used for undesigned purposes. What does everyone do when something on their hacked iPhone screws up their hardware? They reinstall iOs and take it to apple and demand a replacement.

What if you tried this with your car? Put on a new carb and a tweaked computer and took it to the track, and when you blew your engine you put the stock stuff back on and wanted warranty service. I ride dirtbikes and with the motocross bikes the warranty ends when you leave the dealer because you can blow your top end in a single race.

Oh, like said above.
There's a few differences with riding dirtbikes and installing software on a device.....

 

[grahamnp]

It's also a slippery slope with having hardware hacked and stolen and used for undesigned purposes.

Stolen? What people choose to do with iPhone is none of Apple's business. Anyway, people use Apple's computers for "undesigned purposes", Apple doesn't go through each and every application and this has never been a problem.

 

[SeniorGato1]

No reason to have this creep ware if you have a pin lock on your phone and enable the feature to wipe your phone after 10 failed login attempts.

 

[TruckdriverSean]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A306 Safari/6531.22.7)

No reason to have this creep ware if you have a pin lock on your phone and enable the feature to wipe your phone after 10 failed login attempts.

Exactly.

I see this patent idea, (if it ever sees the light of day) being an option geared towards institutional use. (business, government, Apple employees visiting bars, etc. )

A lot of the iPhones success can be traced back to buyers playing around with a friend or family member's iPhone. I doubt they'd want to lose that. (ZOMG! I let my kid play "Angry Birds" and now my iPhone's dead!!"

 

[nooaah]

The slimebags who use Installous ruined it for everyone, IMO. And there are a ton of slimebags out there.

 

[ddavid]

Seriously? You really shouldn't even open your mouth if you obviously don't know anything about the subject at hand.

Jailbreaking doesn't screw up your phone. If something goes flaky, there's an easy fix...it's called a restore. I don't ever remember reading about someone who had their HARDWARE messed up by a jailbreak. Maybe SOFTWARE doesn't play nicely with each other, but hardware? C'mon.

I mean, you do actually know the difference between hardware and software, right? Because you really don't sound like you do.

Perhaps you should open your eyes and read what I wrote. (mouth was not open, but perhaps yours should be)

Software can screw up hardware. How many people complain that their iPhones are "bricked" for one reason or another. Apple's patent application addressed more scenarios than jailbreaking. Perhaps you should read it?

 

[Applejuiced]

Perhaps you should open your eyes and read what I wrote. (mouth was not open, but perhaps yours should be)

Software can screw up hardware. How many people complain that their iPhones are "bricked" for one reason or another. Apple's patent application addressed more scenarios than jailbreaking. Perhaps you should read it?

You cannot permanently brick an iphone thru software or by JB.
You can always put it in DFU or restore mode and restore it to official firmware thru itunes.
Only if there's a hardware issue the phone can be bricked for good and will not restore.

 

[ddavid]

Oh, like said above.
There's a few differences with riding dirtbikes and installing software on a device.....

It's called an analogy.

For example, what if someone developed a BIOS hack for a Macbook Pro that highly over-clocked the processor? Is Apple on the hook for repairs?

Also, MobileMe has remote wipe. What is the difference if Apple has the technology to do something similar if they have a valid reason?

Here's another analogy, just so you can get used to the idea. OnStar has the ability to shut off your car if they have a reason to, however if they do it without a good reason they are open to huge liability. Same with Apple.

 

[ddavid]

You cannot permanently brick an iphone thru software or by JB.
You can always put it in DFU or restore mode and restore it to official firmware thru itunes.
Only if there's a hardware issue the phone can be bricked for good and will not restore.

Why is it whenever there is an iOs update you see about 5 or 6 "I updated and just bricked my iPhone" threads?

Besides, there are a bunch of reasons Apple might want to patent the capability to kill hardware. With a recent court ruling that says users are not violating any laws by jailbreaking their phones Apple is on less solid legal ground to do this. They might be able to make an EULA argument but it's more tenuous.

 

[Applejuiced]

Why is it whenever there is an iOs update you see about 5 or 6 "I updated and just bricked my iPhone" threads?

Besides, there are a bunch of reasons Apple might want to patent the capability to kill hardware. With a recent court ruling that says users are not violating any laws by jailbreaking their phones Apple is on less solid legal ground to do this. They might be able to make an EULA argument but it's more tenuous.

Because people like to use the term "bricked" loosely.
Yes it is bricked now but untill you restore it thru itunes. Not bricked forever though.