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EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

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Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#231
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did the required reading so you don't have to. This is the law passed: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2022-0338... -> https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TC1-COD-2021-0... Guess what, on page 10 the text says: > With respect to charging by means other than wired charging, divergent solutions could be developed in the future, which could have negative impacts on interoperability, on con…

>Hotels and many other places have started offering USB A and USB C ports. I think we're close to the point (5-10 years away?) where you could go to the US from Europe with just a laptop, for 2 weeks, and you'd be able to charge it just by using USB C ports available in restaurants, hotels, bars, offices, etc. I know EU is very nonchalant about sex, but sticking oneself into random USB ports is a bridge too far.

You mean you're worried about USB attacks?

Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#232
post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> [..] you don't get to decide what "social good" is Well, technically I have a say, I elect my leaders and can write to them with my opinion. Often it is the case that salesmen and charletons get into those positions but the basic premise of those positions is that they're intended to act in the social good. What you propose is that somehow tech companies will act in the social good by themselves, which I find parti…

> The only antidote to this is regulations. Well, I respectfully disagree, I'm a firm believer that regulations disproportionately hurt smaller businesses in the long run because those giants that have the monopoly move way faster than governments and they usually have thousands of smart lawyers ready to find holes and exploit/get around regulations made, usually, by people that does not understand the subject enough…

Yes, if you intend on doing something unethical then it's certainly easier as a big company.

I have so far had good experiences with the legal system and regulations by choosing industries that are not unethical.

Nobody is chasing people who are not in violation of the cardinal rule zero: "Do not act in a way that requires [me] to make a new rule"

Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#233

If stars align right for Apple, this can at least with some probability that they can kill WhatsApp in a few countries. If they implement a few features.

Lmao. How? This just means that msging apps on Android will finally be able to break the blue bubble problem. There will be even less incentive for ppl to switch to iphone to enjoy the 'privilege'

There's nothing in the regulation saying Apple has to make everything look the same, they're free to put whatever color they want on third party integrations.

Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no bubble because literally everyone has whatshapp. It's even available on "dumb phones". I've never met anyone of any age who doesn't have it.

Hello there, nice to meet you. Life without Whatsapp is not easy in the Netherlands, but is possible. The "super bubble" exists though, and it sucks. Most problems come from the "literally everyone has whatshapp" crowd like you, by the way, the people who deny the existence of the bubble. Could you please stop making my life harder? No, not "literally everyone" has Whatsapp: I don't. Agreeing to T&C of some foreign c…

Yeah can confirm that I'm another one in the boat of "would drop WA since Facebook owns it", but it's just borderline unviable to do so if I don't want to make my life much more difficult/put extra stress on all my IRL social connections.

It's hard to understand it if you don't live in NL just how extremely omnipresent WhatsApp is. People use it for everything, from casual family chatter to highly serious conversations to quite literally business-related conversations. Not having WA will absolutely result in things like missing crucial information because "we send it in the WhatsApp group" and that of course in turn will be used as a mark against you when you're say, seeking a job.

This occurred before Facebook bought it and their recent T&S change that allows them to use WA usage to improve their algorithms basically was a case of "enjoy being forced to share your data with no recourse". There was tons of social pushback about it but nobody could do anything about it because the app is so entrenched.

I am thoroughly looking forward to the DMA and its impact on WhatsApp.

Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#235

There was a brief period of time where I was able to use IRC, Facebook and MSN from the same client: Pidgin https://pidgin.im/

It was not the client but all the companies using Jabber/XMPP protocol for their products. Many clients including Empathy and Kopete allowed this at the time.

That's not really true. These clients often reversed engineered other chat protocols and thus supported services that didn't support Jabber / XMPP. This was before e2e encryption was the norm so it was easier to do.

Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#236
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that a problem worldwide or more localized to the US? I am using Signal, Threema, and WhatsApp and never received spam on any messanger, only occasionally via SMS.

I live 10,000km away from the US and can confirm that I get more spam on androids than when using iMessage. It wasn’t the main reason I switched back to iOS with my newest phone but it was a reason.

Maybe it depends on the Android vendor, but my OnePlus' "Messages" (the SMS app) automatically blocks a lot of spam messages automatically and it's quite good at it. On the contrary I have friends with iPhones who get spam/phishing messages.

Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#237

Does anyone know whether there's any implication for Signal? Will they have to comply as well and make their app interoperable with other messaging apps?

There is a signal api already

Sure but that's completely different from requiring the Signal app to allow exchanging messages with Facebook/WhatsApp/iMessage/…

Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#238
post #229

Does anyone know whether there's any implication for Signal? Will they have to comply as well and make their app interoperable with other messaging apps?

No, because the regulation would only apply to market-leading "gatekeepers", with thresholds for revenues after which it would apply, so Signal are safe.

That's fantastic news, thank you!

Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except in this case there are no lives being saved, it’s turning green bubbles blue. That’s all this regulation is really about.

The regulation was originally an antitrust case leveled against Apple by the European Commission. It contained many things that are unrelated to saving human lives, but will make developers and users lives better in the long run. We do this because the status quo (Apple having unfettered control over their ecosystem) hasn't worked out for people outside of the ecosystem. In lieu of trusting the world's largest compan…

Some in the United States would be grateful that a large multinational regulatory agency would focus on an issue whereupon green bubble people identify as blue bubble people versus matters of more import.

They would call this a win.

Not arguing against your comment. Just adding a viewpoint that some have. I.e Big government should spend more time on these kind of things instead of “life saving” things.

Re: EU will require Apple to open up iMessage (2022)

#240
post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> [..] you don't get to decide what "social good" is Well, technically I have a say, I elect my leaders and can write to them with my opinion. Often it is the case that salesmen and charletons get into those positions but the basic premise of those positions is that they're intended to act in the social good. What you propose is that somehow tech companies will act in the social good by themselves, which I find parti…

> The only antidote to this is regulations. Well, I respectfully disagree, I'm a firm believer that regulations disproportionately hurt smaller businesses in the long run because those giants that have the monopoly move way faster than governments and they usually have thousands of smart lawyers ready to find holes and exploit/get around regulations made, usually, by people that does not understand the subject enough…

> Well, I respectfully disagree, I'm a firm believer that regulations disproportionately hurt

Yeah you made the point very clear already in all your other posts, no need to repeat it everywhere. Other point errors in your arguments like this being for 75b corps completely nullifying your core arguments, lets just say most of the forum including me, EU and indeed world doesn't share your view at all.

In fact, some healthy dose of regulations makes society actual modern society, less people dying and suffering because money-first. Speed of progress at any costs, believe it or not, is not the ultimate measure of how 'good', moral or developed society is, despite very very few getting richer quicker that way.

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