re: #37 Belafon

The story, as I read it, is that Apple had some texting feature, and a developer wanted to make that available to Android users when they receive texts from an iPhone. After implementing it, Apple specifically changed their code to break that. The government is arguing that Apple is too big of a company in its space to be allowed to do that.

Problem as I read it was that the developer had to hack into Apple servers using an iOS device, often using jailbroken iPhones, in order to get the messaging to work. And then it was going to charge its own customers to have access to what is a free service (They changed when Apple complained).That is, it used Apple’s servers in a way that lowered the security for Apple’s own customers. And piggybacked on Apple technology without compensation. So of the DOJ wants to make that case, there are a lot of unintended consequences.