The last I’ll say on Beeper/Apple/iMessage debacle:
I think it’s within Beeper’s right to attempt at reverse engineering iMessage, but not Apple’s responsibility to be forced or even expected to host Beeper customers. It’s clear Apple doesn’t want to and I don’t blame them. If this ever went to court, Apple would obliterate Beeper—even if they switched lawyers. It’s not Beeper’s right to push the burden and expense of hosting on Apple.
Regulatory bodies—in very small capacities—are starting to view iMessage’s hold on messaging in the U.S. as a potential future anti-trust issue (see FTC statement and bipartisan DOJ letter). Apple’s impending RCS implementation may help curtail this perception, but the GSMA will not get carriers to implement a Universal Profile encryption standard for many years which will ultimately still leave RCS insecure for the foreseeable future.
Personally, I don’t actually think there’s any risk of iMessage being classified as a monopoly anywhere (and I don’t think that legally, it should be); however, not having iMessage available elsewhere makes (1) messaging less secure, and, (2) the user experience worse FOR APPLE’S OWN CUSTOMERS.
@richmurrills@snazzyq even then I'd not call anything #open unless people have full custody of ALL keys (!) and can #SelfHost the entire #backend as well as choose from a variety of #clients and build their own.
That’s the source of my disappointment in this whole charade. Impending regulation is not the way to improve a product and Apple should do better by releasing a free native Android app to (1) serve as a potential customer-acquisition tool, but more importantly, (2) make the iPhone experience better for iPhone users.
Apple claims they believe security and privacy are fundamental human rights, but their actions suggest that they only care about it sometimes—even if you own an iPhone.
@snazzyq I'm still dumbfounded to this day why iMessage lock-in is such a big deal here in the US specifically. People in other countries have figured out that cross-platform messaging apps are the way to go. This should be such a non-issue that Beeper shouldn't have to go through this whole mess in the first place.
For my part though, I've never personally heard any iPhone users complain when I've texted them from my Android phone.
@snazzyq your last point resonates with me. I have plenty of Apple gear, but I also have a Windows PC for gaming. Literally all I want is to be able to use iMessage from the PC without needing to set up some relay and leave my MacBook on all the time.
@snazzyq considering how basically every standardization group - regardless if #ETSI or #GSMA - introduce #Govware#Backdoors in their #Encryption, I'd not count on any GSMA standard to come out of this.
Their attempt to replace #MMS witha #Messenger (remember #Joyn) failed so hard that I don't have any devices that support it!
Add comment