Statements by the Free Software Foundation and Defective By Design regarding the latest Apple press conference.

This article is a translation of public statements by the two organizations in response to the Apple press conference :

• The Free Software Foundation is a non-profit organization whose global mission is to promote freedom and protect the rights of computer and software users.
• Defective by Design (“Intentionally corrupted” is about DRM) is a FSF campaign to promote the spread of DRM technologies, which they interpret as Digital Restrictions Management (digital prohibition management system) and are considered a threat to innovations in media, consumer privacy and freedom of computer users.

From the translator.

Please remember that this is a translation. Although I share the message of these publications as a whole, I cannot be held responsible for each individual statement.
')
The article is published as a “post”, because it is a translation of two articles, and the “translation” on Habré does not allow you to specify links to more than one author and one source.

To indicate a typo or suggest a better translation, please write to the PM.

Free Software Foundation statement on the new iPhone, Apple Pay digital payment system and Apple Watch smart watch

Link to the original

The Free Software Foundation urges users to avoid all Apple products in the interests of their own freedom and that of their loved ones.

Today Apple has announced new models of the iPhone, a clock and a payment system. In response, FSF Executive Director John Sullivan made the following statement:

It is striking that most technology media act as if they were Apple’s marketing department. There is a massive conspiracy in silencing the most significant aspect of the announcement - Apple's new round of war against individual user freedom and, respectively, against freedom of speech, freedom of trade, freedom of association, privacy and technological innovation.

Every review that fails to highlight the fact that Apple imposes a DRM (digital bans management system) to lock devices and applications it sells does a disservice to readers and impedes the development of a free digital society that we all need. Any review that describes the characteristics of new devices without revealing their unethical background, participates in the approximation of complete digital powerlessness.

Notice how many reviews cover how Apple threatens criminal prosecution to anyone who dares to try to install another operating system like Android on a phone or Apple watch. Notice how many reviews mention that Apple devices do not allow you to install unapproved applications, again threatening you with a prison sentence if you go for it without the blessing of Apple. Notice how many reviews draw attention to how Apple, armed with an arsenal of patents, throws an army of lawyers against anyone who is trying to develop a freer computer ecosystem.

Since the last announcement of Apple products, we have seen examples of how smartphones and other computers have been used as a means of political activism and freedom of speech, and many of these expressions have been censored. If we continue to condone Apple's omnipotence, censorship and restriction of freedom of speech in digital tenologies will become a constant norm.

The inventor of the first American programmable computer avoids Apple devices, believing that they are incompatible with important types of creativity. But it is not enough just to say "do not buy their products." It is important to add that the laws that Apple and other companies use to impose their digital bans give them a state-competitive advantage over products that respect the freedom of users.

At least, Apple watches have a buckle that allows you to remove them from the wrist, but we were worried about this.

We urge users to look for opportunities to support the use of such mobile and wearable devices that do not limit the basic freedoms of users. Such projects include Replicant , the free fork of Android, and F-Droid , an Android application repository containing exclusively free software. And be sure to let Tim Cook know what your heart and soul are about.

---

Calling Defective by Design: Fight With Frauds by Distributing This Apple Watch Picture

Link to the original

Read about technology? If yes, you probably already have the hype around the recent Apple announcement. The new Apple devices are in the center of attention: the watch and the iPhone 6. They are cool and trendy, but, like we keep on repeating the past few years, under the polished metal cases there are the most ingenious and unfair bans that can be found in electronic devices. Moreover, the company that sells them is a patent troll focused only on the power over its market niche and users.


Russian version from seomarlboro , original in English .

Five reasons not to buy Apple watches

1. Apple decides for you what applications you can use.
2. Do not check that the watch reports to Apple about you and your life.
3. Revenues from the watch reinforce the position of Apple as a patent troll.
4. Free software is missing.
5. Thanks to DRM, you don’t own purchased music and videos, but rather you rent them from Apple.

Upload a picture to social networks (you can read our ideas about different social networks).

Apple devices are packed with digital bans ( DRM ). They will not allow you to change the operating system to a free one and will not even allow you to simply install third-party applications of your choice. This company uses an impressive arsenal of patents to harass software developers who do things that resemble Apple products, including by chance. However, most people have no idea about Apple’s true intentions.

Check out DefectiveByDesign.org/Apple to read the arguments behind each of the five points and recommendations for moving to action.

Unlike Apple, we do not have millions of money that we could spend on advertising. Well, we, of course, asked U2 to play for us, but they refused. But we can launch a movement for digital freedoms and self-determination. We need to start with small means, such as this picture, in order to show our friends and communities (and Apple!) That we know the true background of these devices: power over users.

Zach Rogoff
Campaign Organizer Defective by Design

PS With the support of the Free Software Foundation, developers make the free mobile OS Replicant available for an increasing number of devices. See the list of currently supported devices and send a penny that developers will spend to purchase more test devices.