Apple going after iPhone hacks

Jobs says Apple will fight iPhone unlocking hacks

September 18, 2007 (Computerworld) -- Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs said today that it's his company's job to stymie hackers who try to unlock the iPhone -- the first time the company has officially said it would fight attempts to use the popular device on unauthorized networks.

At a London Apple retail store where he announced the iPhone's Nov. 9 U.K. debut, Jobs responded to a question about whether Apple would put a stop to the unlocking hacks that have mushroomed recently. "It's a cat-and-mouse game," said Jobs. "We try to stay ahead. People will try to break in, and it's our job to stop them breaking in."

In last few weeks, people have unveiled several unlock hacks that let users swap the iPhone's included SIM card with one from another cellular service provider so the phone can make calls on that carrier's network. With the iPhone limited to domestic sales until November, unlocking is the only way consumers living outside the U.S. have been able to use their phones.

Last week, the iPhone Dev Team posted a free unlocking hack, then followed it yesterday with anySIM, an unlocking tool tucked into a graphical interface. Just a day before the iPhone Dev Team released its free hack, a group called iPhoneSIMFree began selling an unlocking tool of its own through a network of online resellers at prices ranging from $45 to $99.

Carolina Milanesi, a Gartner Inc. analyst who was at the London presentation, said she wondered if it matters much in the long run whether Apple stays a step ahead of hackers, as Jobs said it must do. "At the moment, as a consumer, you need to be very careful about unlocking the iPhone, and know how you want to use it," she said. "If you unlock it, you are not going to have a flat rate, and you will not have access to the 7,500 hot spots."

O2 Ltd., the iPhone's sole carrier in the U.K., will offer three flat-rate plans -- dubbed "tariffs" in Britain -- that range in price from $70 to $110 per month. Flat-rate plans are relatively rare in the U.K., said Milanesi. "If you unlock and then use the Internet and e-mail, you may be surprised by your first bill," she added, referring to the pay-as-you-go data rates charged by most carriers in the country and elsewhere in Europe.

So, what bearing will this have on people who have unlocked their phones?

None.

http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/s...ghlight=iphone

A couple friends of mine who are Apple employees in California certainly have some very uncomplimentary things to say about Steve Jobs and how he is running the company, with shennanigans like this, and, of course, the options backdating.

Apple and Jobs should be delighted that there is an additional source of demand for their products, instead of fighting back like little crybabies.

Originally Posted by pitz

A couple friends of mine who are Apple employees in California certainly have some very uncomplimentary things to say about Steve Jobs and how he is running the company, with shennanigans like this, and, of course, the options backdating.

Apple and Jobs should be delighted that there is an additional source of demand for their products, instead of fighting back like little crybabies.

Well...it could be in his contract to stop hackers...I mean..what the point of signing an exclusitiviy contract with ATT&T when the iPhone is used on other networks unlocks?

Originally Posted by Narci

Well...it could be in his contract to stop hackers...I mean..what the point of signing an exclusitiviy contract with ATT&T when the iPhone is used on other networks unlocks?

Sure, it probably is, but it certainly doesn't make great business sense to exclude 95% of the world's population, as a potential market, by only selling them in the US.

Originally Posted by pitz

Sure, it probably is, but it certainly doesn't make great business sense to exclude 95% of the world's population, as a potential market, by only selling them in the US.

and the UK soon.

From the sounds of it. Steve Jobs assumes that once the consumer buys the product, they do not have the right to alter the product. So dumb.

Originally Posted by pitz

Apple and Jobs should be delighted that there is an additional source of demand for their products, instead of fighting back like little crybabies.

Crybabies? You must have a wildly loose definition of the word. Apple has a contract to be exclusive with AT&T. It's their ethical obligation if not legal to do what they can to maintain the exclusivity.

Originally Posted by kud0s69

From the sounds of it. Steve Jobs assumes that once the consumer buys the product, they do not have the right to alter the product. So dumb.

Jobs didn't say anything about "rights", but if he did, he certainly would have the attitude that it's apple's right to try to make a product resistant to hacking.

Originally Posted by grant

Jobs didn't say anything about "rights", but if he did, he certainly would have the attitude that it's apple's right to try to make a product resistant to hacking.

They have never done anything like this before.



iTunes.

Reverend Steven Jobs only said that about the iPhone because not only were the iPhone clones from china unlocked and cheaper, now the iPhone is being unlocekd and the prices are dropping like hotcakes. Reverend Steven Jobs had no choice to say that.

Originally Posted by kud0s69

From the sounds of it. Steve Jobs assumes that once the consumer buys the product, they do not have the right to alter the product. So dumb.

While I agree that people should be able to modify a product that they own, I certainly rather a company use technology to try and stop it from being done instead of the legal system.

I guess it's also because the iPhone is utterly crap if it's not on an unlimited data plan.

Since many wireless providers around the world do not provide a unlimited data plan, the the iPhone experience will be cheapened which leads to people thinking it's a craptastic product.

I had a chance to play with a fully enables iPhone at the AT&T store. I played witht he thing for 10 minutes, of which 9 was using the wireless data functions (youtube, surf the net mostly). Then I had a chance to play with an unlocked iphone here in Canada. Pretty boring piece of equipment without being able to surf the net.

I would probably get a iPhone in a second if there was an unlimited data plan in Canada, not because of it's 'status' symbol, because it packages everything nicely in a neat package and is easy to use. This is coming from a guy who is still using a 6230b.

Originally Posted by Narci

I guess it's also because the iPhone is utterly crap if it's not on an unlimited data plan.

Since many wireless providers around the world do not provide a unlimited data plan, the the iPhone experience will be cheapened which leads to people thinking it's a craptastic product.

I had a chance to play with a fully enables iPhone at the AT&T store. I played witht he thing for 10 minutes, of which 9 was using the wireless data functions (youtube, surf the net mostly). Then I had a chance to play with an unlocked iphone here in Canada. Pretty boring piece of equipment without being able to surf the net.

I would probably get a iPhone in a second if there was an unlimited data plan in Canada, not because of it's 'status' symbol, because it packages everything nicely in a neat package and is easy to use. This is coming from a guy who is still using a 6230b.

I am always in an area that has wifi it seems, and wifi = free, so you get to enjoy all the features like youtube/internet/email etc.