Apple attacks ‘iPhone’ bloggers
p2pnet.net News:- “Why wait until June 2007 to get your iPhone?” – asks Holvoetn on the Brighthand Forum. “Just download iPhone 0.2 (file attached) and start to impress your friends and colleagues today! “Of course it is just for fun (Launcher app) and it is not completly done yet but the way I see it is that I have until June 2007 to finish the application!
“Of course it is FREE so enjoy!”
It’s the first part of a post which seems to have started off on 1src.com (see 1src.com below). At least, that’s what it used to say. But now:
DISCLAIMER: DUE TO POSSIBLE LEGAL IMPLICATIONS THE DOWNLOAD HAS BEEN REMOVED.
And Paul O’Brien’s blog says:
Can you believe it… yesterday, in this topic, I posted a link to a post on XDA-Developers, where an enterprising member had created a Pocket PC today screen to mimic the Apple iPhone.
It’s worth pointing out I just posted a link and a screenshot… NOT the actual files required to DO the installation.
Well, this morning in my mailbox I find a letter from Apple’s legal team (O`Melveny & Myers LLP, San Francisco) entitled ‘Unauthorized Dissemination of Apple Computer Copyrighted Material by MoDaCo’ demanding I remove the said link and the screenshot. Crazy or what? Unfortunately the mail was marked ‘NOT FOR POSTING’, exactly how bound I am by that i’m not sure.
A bit excessive IMHO… and although I can accept that they can get upset over the screenshot, can they really demand I remove the link too? :-S
Well, we’re talkng about Steve ‘iRule’ Jobs, here, and as various bloggers know to their cost, you can’t post anything, anything, about Apple unless it’s OK with Steve.
‘Freedom of speech? Where Apple is concerned, forget it because Jobs doesn’t believe in it. And he doesn’t have a sense of humour, either.
Meanwhile, on 1src.com under Version 0.2, momob says:
1- Version 0.2 now allows now to set each button to a app in our device. For instance the icon “Mail” can be linked to “SnapperMail” , “ChatterMail” or whatever. To access the “buttons setting” window, simply click on the top of the screen (as if you were trying to open a menu) and a list of the icons will appears. Each icon will have a pulldown menu listing all the app on your device. Simply choose one by icon. By default all the icon are set to “Launcher”. You can also access this setting window by clicking on the “menu” button on your device.
2- Version 0.2 also allows you to navigate around the icons using the 5-ways pad (blue ring).
3- I changed the icons a little bit. For instance I removed the “Weather” icon and replaced by “Notes” or Memo.
I am still working on the graphic quality and the 320×480.
Mo.
SimToGo*
(Lunar Lander Simulator & Blue Diamond)
PS: You can find the file in the following message at TreoCentral. I am sorry to do this to 1Src but this forum does not seems to allow .prc attachement and I do not have (yet) a place to upload it:
Says The Sydney Morning Herald, “The skins don’t add any new functionality to the devices, but make use of the iPhone’s copyrighted icons to create a UI that distinctly resembles Apple’s hybrid mobile phone.
“Soon after the skins were uploaded to the Brighthand and Xda-developers internet message boards, Apple unleashed its legal team, who sent removal letters to at least one of the websites hosting the files. Apple’s lawyers also sent letters to journalists who simply reported on the fact that the skins were available.” The SMH carries the It Has Come To Our Intention letter, which reads:
It has come to our attention that you have posted a screenshot of Apple’s new iPhone and links that facilitate the installation of that screenshot on a PocketPC device,” law firm O’Melveny & Myers LLP wrote to Paul O’Brien, who runs the MoDaCo website.
While we appreciate your interest in the iPhone, the icons and screenshot displayed on your website are copyrighted by Apple.
Apple therefore demands that you remove this screenshot from your website and refrain from facilitating the further dissemination of Apple’s copyrighted material by removing the link to http://forum.xda-developers.com, where said icons and screenshot are being distributed.
“Ironically,” adds the story, “Apple’s attempts to have the files removed from the web have only given the skins greater publicity, and they have already begun spreading to other websites.”
Jobs has attacked bloggers before and gotten away with it. There’s also a lot of other stuff going on to further besmirch the already tainted Apple name, DRM law suits, fraudulent documents, and so on. But none of it seems to make the slightest difference.
Is this but another form of the viral marketing at which Apple excels? Jobs knows he can do and say whatever he likes with it having any effect on product sales or the media: the legions of pro and amateur Apple scribes will continue to scribble, whatever.
Meanwhile, at the cost of a legal letter, the iPhone, the icons and screenshot story has been blasted around the world.
So what if some if the posts are critical? We’re talking about Apple, here, and as the saying goes, ‘There’s no such thing as bad publicity,” especially the self-generated kind.
No need to stay tuned.
Also See:
1src.com – NEW: Iphony 0.2 Released (FREE!), January 12, 2007
blog – Apple legal throw their weight around…, January 13, 2007
The Sydney Morning Herald – iPhone skins irk Apple, January 13, 2007
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January 16th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Another Reason not to buy a Mac or i*.*
Steve Jobs is just like the RIAA, sue everyone you can to make up for the lost profits.
January 16th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
“No need to stay tuned.” – Priceless.
January 16th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
I am going to go against the flow of this, but Steve Jobs did say this was patented, “And oh boy, did we patent it!”. When the CEO will say it’s patented, you would need to expect to face trouble when you a challenge a large company. Above all else, the quote: “can they really demand I remove the link too? :-S” Well, duh! That’s the most copyright infringing material which challenges the product.
January 16th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
“Patent” is derived from a Latin word that means “open”, right? And this case looks more like the contrary, i.e. tradesecrets.
Not to say that actual devices are patented, not screenshots and icons.