[HN Gopher] Apple is top funder of lobby group that says it repr...
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Apple is top funder of lobby group that says it represents small
developers
Author : commoner
Score : 134 points
Date : 2022-09-19 19:53 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (arstechnica.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (arstechnica.com)
| outside1234 wrote:
| Think Different and Define Small :)
| saurik wrote:
| I work on DMCA exemption issues every few years due to my
| involvement with iOS jailbreaking and pushing back on companies
| like Apple, and the App Association would always be there
| seemingly trying to throw their all into preventing any DMCA
| exemptions or painting jailbreaking in a negative light... only,
| to me, the really interesting is always that their arguments are
| _so low quality_.
|
| In one case they argued people primarily jailbreak over-the-top
| set top video streaming boxes so they can watch pirated
| content... but the website and software being linked to
| explicitly said that you didn't have to jailbreak your device to
| either install or use their app, as you could just sideload it on
| a normally set up device (as clearly any normal app can _play
| video_ ;P). It is as if they are just hoping no one bothers to
| check their references.
|
| (Another time--and I honestly am not 100% sure this one was the
| App Association, as I am just remembering this one as opposed to
| having it in my notes on this, but I am pretty sure I remember it
| being the same guy--showed up to the hearing with a giant stack
| of evidence against me/Cydia trying to show I was actively
| involved in piracy, and it essentially lost them their
| credibility as I was able to quickly show every single reference
| in the stack was to scammers using my trademarks for fake
| software and that I had even had a lawyer going around trying to
| shut them down. They either couldn't tell what was real and what
| wasn't, or hoped they could pull a fast one on the panel as maybe
| I wouldn't be there to set it all straight.)
|
| In another case they (definitely the App Association) tried to
| argue that jailbreaking devices for purposes of repair (where the
| device is left back in a locked state for the user but the
| jailbreak let you replace some part or update some software or
| something) should not be allowed because repair manuals are
| copywritten, but that argument was essentially a non-sequitur as
| I don't think Kyle was using original manuals (much less
| _stealing_ them ;P); and, even if he had somehow gotten a copy,
| the protection mechanism certainly wasn 't protecting the manual.
|
| Honestly, I am pretty sure I could make a better argument against
| me for them, and it felt like whomever all was funding them must
| be wasting their money without realizing it; for a while I had
| thought about doing a big "expose" of them with the goal of
| convincing people who were funding them "y'all's money is going
| to waste on this" in the hope that maybe the companies who were
| members didn't even realize what the App Association was spending
| their time on... but I hadn't ever realized it was (according to
| Bloomberg here) mostly Apple anyway (lol).
|
| FWIW, as far as I could ever tell, the App Association was
| essentially (in terms of who actually puts together and argued
| these opinions) just the one person: Morgan Reed (who is the
| President and is quoted in that article). I highly recommend
| looking around at the myriad areas of random politics and
| regulation that he is trying to manipulate, as they make sure to
| get involved--no matter how low effort--whenever there is an
| opportunity for public comment.
| EMIRELADERO wrote:
| Thank you for your hard work.
|
| On the DMCA realm, I cannot wait for the _Green v. DOJ_ case to
| bear fruit. If it succeeds, the DMCA anti-circumvention and
| anti-trafficking provisions will be ruled unconstitutional
| altogether.
|
| Last we heard about the case was the oral argument for the
| appeal on 9/12, but it left a sour taste in my mouth.
|
| The judges were most focused on whether Green had standing to
| bring the case (because the government said he would not be
| prosecuted for doing what he wanted to do) and on whether the
| appeal itself was adequate at the motion to dismiss stage.
|
| They barely even discussed the issues of fair use and
| constitutional balance that the 1st amendment requires for
| copyright law to exist (established by SCOTUS in _Eldred_ and
| _Golan_ )
|
| I don't know what to think with this new development, honestly.
| alsetmusic wrote:
| I'm a longtime user and former employee and I can't begin to
| summon any words to excuse this shitty look. Apple under Stelv
| Jobs may sometimes warrant a side-eyed glance. Apple under Tim
| Cook keeps coming up slimey af. I used to admire the man. I now
| think he's slowly killing a company that I used to love.
| thr0wawayf00 wrote:
| You think Steve Jobs would be morally above doing something
| like this? His personal history is full of stuff like this.
| NegativeLatency wrote:
| This claim is well supported by the numerous emails from
| court cases that have become public recently.
| duxup wrote:
| Is there something about Steve that would indicate he wouldn't
| do this?
|
| I don't know of anything in his history that would lead me to
| believe that, but I'm hardly his biographer or anything.
| Melatonic wrote:
| Sounds like they should change their name from the App
| Association to the App(le) Association
| stefan_ wrote:
| Like Facebook is the "voice" of small business:
| https://www.facebook.com/business/news/ios-14-apple-privacy-...
| pessimizer wrote:
| Next you'll tell me that the top funder of disease advocacy
| groups is big pharma, and that the top funders of YIMBY groups
| are huge property owners.
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(page generated 2022-09-19 23:00 UTC)