Tweeting as me?  No, absolutely not – not even if they reciprocally give me permission to start tweeting as @LATimes:twitter  LATimes.  And “Updating my profile”?  Sorry, not unless I get to update the LATimes’s profile.  “All The News That Fits!”

And by the way, Twitter, this is one reason I don’t have Twitter apps on my phone.  Not only do I not want to provide Twitter real-time access to my geographical location or any information at all about my phone number or other phone identification, but I especially don’t want third-party apps snarfing up this stuff because I didn’t notice some permission request.  Does anybody know of a good privacy-respecting https-only Twitter app for Android?

It also helps to remember Maya who lost her voice because of patent disputes being used to remove the program she used to talk to the world, because it was far better than the overly priced, bulky, and not innovative speech board another company markets.  Apple pulled the app at the first sign of problem before they were required to by law.  In Maya’s case it took all of the bad PR and threats from lawyers to attack the patents to get an agreement letting her keep her voice.

So a much better, more innovative, better product was removed from the market by a company that hasn’t innovated in a very long time.  There are many stories of apps being denied or pulled from the market, because they compete with a legacy player.

If I was really attacking Apple I would have pointed out the wholesale theft of the idea to wirelessly sync music, and Apple added insult to injury by copying the icon the developer had designed.  They kept him from the market, took the idea and rolled it into their product… seems anti-competitive.

I am sure we can find examples for Google and soon enough MS doing the same sorts of things.

The fact that there is a patent for rounded rectangles isn’t so much a slam at Apple as it is at how broken the system has become.  Millions of dollars in legal fees, billions in settlements… and not a single dollar of that makes the products better for consumers.

Stopping piracy is more important than making a good product now.  They upped they number of unskippable threats on plastic discs of content, to make sure consumers who purchased the product are subjected to the message that they should buy content.  Treating your paying customers like that is stupid, but it is now acceptable because we must stop piracy!

Predictable response from an anti Apple zealot though ;)

I think that you’ll find you’re the zealot my friend.

Loads!  Same as on Google’s Walled Garden, and probably even Microsoft’s Walled Garden.  I’m not so sure about Symbain’s Walled Garden though.

The rest of your point is spot on though, and summarises the point nicely, just thought I’d point out that the anti-Apple slant is both obvious and unnecessary, same with the rectangle comment. They’re all as bad as each other, don’t become a puppet for the current media target whilst making a good point – dilutes it a bit.

“I agreed to allow a piece of software to post Tweets on my behalf and then it Tweeted on my behalf!”

“…”

Joking aside the problem is with the Twitter API and the conscience of the App developer. I’m pretty sure they broke Twitter’s TOS with this move, but that’s probably it.

Not that it makes what they did ‘OK’, but the concern that laws have been broken (I’m pretty sure) is completely unwarranted. Probably depends on location I guess.

It’s higher rated than that one too.

I appreciate that doesn’t confirm your bias but I thought it worth noting.

On a daily basis we have hundreds of thousands of DMCA takedown notices, a majority are not actually valid.
Someone claimed a birdsong, doubled down on that claim… and all they got was some bad internet press.

In 3 days CCI begins a program allowing peoples net connections to be tampered with on mere accusations in the US.

Music sales are in the toilet in Japan because they made downloading a felony, people are now scared of any online sources even the legal ones.

The US has seized domains and servers not based in the US on baseless claims of piracy, they seek to extradite people to the US to face breaking the law in a country they never set foot in.

Megaupload… ’nuff said.

Laws are passed to protect corporations from the loss of billions of dollars, but no one can actually find those billions of dollars ever having existed.  Corporations get to play by different rules.  Protecting IP is more important than laws meant for us little people.

This is the future we are stuck in now.
If your sales slip, blame piracy.
If your product sucks, blame piracy.
If someone else makes rounded rectangles, blame piracy.

To fight piracy you can break laws, it is your right to!
Who cares how many innocents you get, they don’t matter.
You have to get those damn pirates! 
Focus on them, and ignore the people who paid you.
Consumers are just sheep to be sheared, don’t worry about making a good product make sure to get them pirates.
Spend money on better DRM, shaft paying consumers more, this time it’ll stop the pirates for sure – the last 50 times was just a fluke.

How much competition is there in Apple’s Walled Garden for this companies products?
How many different ways are there for them to keep anyone from offering a competing product that might be better?

This is just 1 sign of the world we are slipping towards, I think its time to remind corporations that consumers matter more than imaginary boogeymen.  That spending millions on the next DRM that will save them, instead of improving the product is short sighted and will drive consumers to alternatives…

Or maybe I babble to much…