<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" --> <!-- Parent-Version:1.851.96 --> <!--#set var="DISABLE_TOP_ADDENDUM" value="yes" --> <!-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please do not edit <ul class="blurbs">! Instead, edit /proprietary/workshop/mal.rec, then regenerate pages. See explanations in /proprietary/workshop/README.md. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --> <title>Proprietary Jails - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/side-menu.css" media="screen,print" /> <!--#include virtual="/proprietary/po/proprietary-jails.translist" --> <!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" --> <div class="nav"> <a id="side-menu-button" class="switch" href="#navlinks"> <img id="side-menu-icon" height="32" src="/graphics/icons/side-menu.png" title="Section contents" alt=" [Section contents] " /> </a> <p class="breadcrumb"> <a href="/"><img src="/graphics/icons/home.png" height="24" alt="GNU Home" title="GNU Home" /></a> / <a href="/proprietary/proprietary.html">Malware</a> / By type / </p> </div> <!--GNUN: OUT-OF-DATE NOTICE--> <!--#include virtual="/server/top-addendum.html" --> <div style="clear: both"></div> <div id="last-div" class="reduced-width"> <h2>Proprietary Jails</h2><p><a href="/proprietary/proprietary.html">Other examples of proprietary malware</a></p><div class="infobox"> <hr class="full-width" /> <p>Nonfree (proprietary) software is very often malware (designed to mistreat the user). Nonfree software is controlled by its developers, which puts them in a position of power over the users; <a href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">that is the basic injustice</a>. The developers and manufacturers often exercise that power to the detriment of the users they ought to serve.</p><p>Here are examples<p>This typically takes the form ofproprietarymalicious functionalities.</p> <hr class="full-width" /> </div> <div class="article"> <p>The “jails” are malicious operating systems that are<em>jails</em>: they aredesigned to impose censorship of which applications the user can install. The <a href="http://i.imgur.com/ZRViDum.jpg">image of the iPrison</a> illustrates this issue.</p> <!-- embed http://i.imgur.com/ZRViDum.jpg here --> <!-- Linking to it. Not possible to embed due to licensing. See RT #887471 --><p>We also include specific examples of apps that were blocked using that censorship power. If you know of additional examples, please email the specifics to webmasters@ our domain.</p><p>These systems are platforms for censorship imposed by the company that owns the system. Selling products designed as platforms for a company to impose censorship ought to be forbidden by law, but it isn't.</p><p class="c"><p>This page lists a few jails, along with some of the methods they use to censor apps, and includes specific examples of apps that were blocked using this censorship power.</p> <div class="important"> <p>If you know of an example that ought to be in this page but isn't here, please write to <ahref="#apple">Apple jails</a> |href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a> to inform us. Please include the URL of a trustworthy reference or two to serve as specific substantiation.</p> </div> <div id="TOC" class="toc-inline"> <ul> <li> <a href="#apple">Apple</a> </li> <li> <a href="#microsoft">Microsoft</a> </li> <li> <a href="#consoles">Game consoles</a> </li> </ul> </div> <h3 id="apple">Apple</h3> <ul class="blurbs"> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M202207200"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2022-07</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Shortcuts, a built-in scripting app on Apple devices, <ahref="#microsoft">Microsoft jails</a> |href="https://support.apple.com/guide/shortcuts/apdf01f8c054/5.0/ios/15.0"> doesn't give you complete freedom to share scripts</a> (a.k.a. “shortcuts”). Exporting a script as a file <ahref="#consoles">Game consoles</a> </p> <h3 id="apple">Apple jails</h3>href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230329031338/https://www.reddit.com/r/StallmanWasRight/comments/vogb0c/all_methods_of_sharing_ios_shortcuts_require_an/"> requires an Apple ID</a>, and may be subjected to censorship by Apple.</p> <p>In this situation (and many others), switching from iPhony/iBad to a freedom respecting device gives you both convenience and freedom. The assumption that you must sacrifice convenience to get freedom is often wrong. Jails are inconvenient.</p> </li> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M202109170"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2021-09</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Apple has made it <a href="https://gizmodo.com/apple-and-google-pull-opposition-app-from-russian-store-1847695238"> impossible to load Navalny's tactical voting app into an iPhone</a> in Russia.</p> <p>It is impossible because (1) the iPhone refuses to load apps from anywhere other than Apple, and (2) Apple has obeyed a Russian censorship law. The first point is enforced by Apple's nonfree software.</p> </li> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M201904080"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2019-04</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Apple plans to require that <a href="https://www.macrumors.com/2019/04/08/mac-apps-notarization-macos-10-14-5/"> all application software for MacOS be approved by Apple first</a>.</p> <p>Offering a checking service as an option could be useful and would not be wrong. Requiring users to get Apple's approval is tyranny. Apple says the check will only look for malware (not counting the malware that is <a href="/proprietary/malware-apple.html#TOC">part of the operating system</a>), but Apple could change that policy step by step. Or perhaps Apple will define malware to include any app that the Chinese government does not like.</p> <p>For free software, this means users will need to get Apple's approval after compilation. This amounts to a system of surveilling the use of free programs.</p> </li> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M200803070"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2008-03</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IOS_jailbreaking&oldid=835861046"> iOS, the operating system of the Apple iThings, is the prototype of a jail</a>. It was Apple that introduced the practice of designing general purpose computers with censorship of application programs.</p> <p>Here is an article about the <ahref="http://weblog.rogueamoeba.com/2008/03/07/code-signing-and-you/">href="https://weblog.rogueamoeba.com/2008/03/07/code-signing-and-you/"> code signing</a> that the iThings use to lock up the user.</p> <p>Curiously, Apple is beginning to allow limited passage through the walls of the iThing jail: users can now install apps built from source code, provided the source code is written in Swift. Users cannot do this freely because they are required to identify themselves. <a href="https://developer.apple.com/xcode/">Here are details</a>. While this is a crack in the prison walls, it is not big enough to mean that the iThings are no longer jails.</p><h4>Examples</li> </ul> <h4 id="apple-censorship">Examples of censorship by Apple jails</h4><ul> <li> <p>Apple<ul class="blurbs"> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M202108200"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2021-08</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>The Russian communications watchdog <ahref="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/29/technology/china-apple-censorhip.html"> deleted several VPNshref="https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/russian-watchdog-tells-google-apple-remove-navalny-app-report-2021-08-20/"> tells Google and Apple to remove Navalny's app</a> fromits app storetheir stores.</p> <p>Because Apple controls what a user can install, this is absolute censorship. By contrast, because Android does not do that, users can install apps even if Google does not offer them.</p> </li> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M202008300"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2020-08</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Apple is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/aug/30/this-isnt-the-1990s-apple-under-pressure-from-app-developers"> putting the squeeze on all business</a> conducted through apps forChina</a>, thus using its own censorshipiMonsters.</p> <p>This is a symptom of a very big injustice: that Apple has the power tostrengthendecide what software can be installed on an iMonster. That it is a jail.</p> </li> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M201910100"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2019-10</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Apple has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/10/hong-kong-protests-apple-pulls-tracking-app-after-china-criticism"> banned the app that Hong Kong protesters use to communicate</a>.</p> <p>Obeying the “local laws” about what people can do with software is no excuse for censoring what software people can use.</p> </li> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M201910070"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2019-10</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Apple <a href="https://boingboing.net/2019/10/07/apple-ios-13-1-2-for-hong-kong.html"> censors the Taiwan flag in iOS</a> on behalf of the Chinesegovernment.</p>government. When the region is set to Hong Kong, this flag is not visible in the emoji selection widget but is still accessible. When the region is set to mainland China, all attempts to display it will result in the “empty emoji” icon as if the flag never existed.</p> <p>Thus, not only does Apple use the App Store as an instrument of censorship, it also uses the iThing operating system for that purpose.</p> </li><li><!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M201905150"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2019-05</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Users caught in the jail of an iMonster are <a href="https://boingboing.net/2019/05/15/brittle-security.html"> sitting ducks for other attackers</a>, and the app censorship prevents security companies from figuring out how those attacks work.</p> <p>Apple's censorship of apps is fundamentally unjust, and would be inexcusable even if it didn't lead to security threats as well.</p> </li> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M201710130"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2017-10</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Apple is <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/10/iranian-hardliners-want-isolated-internet"> censoring apps for the US government too</a>. Specifically, it is deleting apps developed by Iranians.</p> <p>The root of these wrongsareis in Apple. If Apple had not designed the iMonsters to let Apple censor applications, Apple would not have had the power to stop users from installing whatever kind of apps.</p> </li><li><!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M201707290"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2017-07</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Apple <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/29/technology/china-apple-censorhip.html"> deleted several VPNs from its app store for China</a>, thus using its own censorship power to strengthen that of the Chinese government.</p> </li> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M201701064"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2017-01</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Apple used its censorship system to enforce Russian surveillance <ahref="http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/06/technology/linkedin-blocked-in-russia.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0">href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220402210254/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/06/technology/linkedin-blocked-in-russia.html"> by blocking distribution of the LinkedIn app in Russia</a>.</p> <p>This is ironic because LinkedIn is a surveillance system itself. While subjecting its users to its own surveillance, it tries to protect its users from Russian surveillance, and is therefore subject to Russian censorship.</p> <p>However, the point here is the wrong of Apple's censorship of apps.</p> </li><li><!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M201701050"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2017-01</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Apple used its censorship system to enforce China's censorship <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/05/apple-removes-new-york-times-app-in-china"> by blocking distribution of the New York Times app</a>.</p> </li><li><!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M201605190"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2016-05</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Apple censors games, <ahref="http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/05/apple-says-game-about-palestinian-child-isnt-a-game">href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/05/apple-says-game-about-palestinian-child-isnt-a-game/"> banning some games from the cr…app store</a> because of which political points they suggest. Some political points are apparently considered acceptable.</p> </li><li><!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M201509290"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2015-09</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Apple <ahref="http://ifixit.org/blog/7401/ifixit-app-pulled/">href="https://www.ifixit.com/News/7401/ifixit-app-pulled"> banned a program from the App Store</a> because its developers committed the enormity of disassembling some iThings.</p> </li><li><!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M201509230"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2015-09</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>As of 2015, Apple <ahref="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/23/apple-anti-choice-tendencies-showing-in-app-store-reproductive-rights">href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/23/apple-anti-choice-tendencies-showing-in-app-store-reproductive-rights"> systematically bans apps that endorse abortion rights or would help women find abortions</a>.</p> <p>This particular political slant <ahref="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/dec/01/siri-abortion-apple-unintenional-omissions">href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/dec/01/siri-abortion-apple-unintenional-omissions"> affects other Apple services</a>.</p> </li><li><!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M201506250"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2015-06</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Apple has banned iThing applications that show the confederate flag. <ahref="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/25/apple-confederate-flag_n_7663754.html">href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/apple-confederate-flag_n_7663754"> Not only those that use it as a symbol of racism</a>, but even strategic games that use it to represent confederate army units fighting in the Civil War.</p> <p>This ludicrous rigidity illustrates the point that Apple should not be allowed to censor apps. Even if Apple carried out this act of censorship with some care, it would still be wrong. Whether racism is bad, whether educating people about drone attacks is bad, are not the real issue. Apple should not have the power to impose its views about either of these questions, or any other.</p> </li><li> <p>Apple rejected an app that displayed the locations<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M201412110"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2014-12</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/dec/11/papers-please-game-ipad-nude-body-scans"> More examples ofUS drone assassinations, giving various excuses. Each time the developers fixed one “problem”, Apple complained about another. After the fifth rejection, Apple <a href="http://mashable.com/2014/02/07/apple-app-tracks-drone-strikes/"> admitted it was censoring the app based on the subject matter</a>.</p>Apple's arbitrary and inconsistent censorship</a>.</p> </li><li><!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M201405250"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2014-05</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Apple used this censorship power in 2014 to <ahref="http://boingboing.net/2014/02/07/apple-yanks-last-remaining-bit.html">href="https://boingboing.net/2014/02/07/apple-yanks-last-remaining-bit.html"> ban all bitcoin apps</a> for the iThings for a time. It also <ahref="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/apple-removes-game-about-growing-marijuana-from-app-store/1100-6419864/">href="https://www.gamespot.com/articles/apple-removes-game-about-growing-marijuana-from-app-store/1100-6419864/"> banned a game about growing marijuana</a>, while permitting games about other crimes such as killing people. Perhaps Apple considers killing more acceptable than marijuana.</p> </li><li> <p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/dec/11/papers-please-game-ipad-nude-body-scans"> More examples<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M201402070"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2014-02</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Apple rejected an app that displayed the locations ofApple's arbitrary and inconsistent censorship</a>.</p>US drone assassinations, giving various excuses. Each time the developers fixed one “problem”, Apple complained about another. After the fifth rejection, Apple <a href="https://mashable.com/archive/apple-app-tracks-drone-strikes"> admitted it was censoring the app based on the subject matter</a>.</p> </li> </ul> <h3id="microsoft">Microsoft jails</h3> <ul> <li>id="microsoft">Microsoft</h3> <ul class="blurbs"> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M201706130"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2017-06</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Windows 10 S was a jail: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/03/windows-10-s-microsoft-faster-pc-comparison"> only programs from the Windows Store could be installed and executed</a>. It was however possible to <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/13/15789998/microsoft-windows-10-s-upgrade-windows-10-pro-guide"> upgrade to Windows 10 Pro</a>. The successor of Windows 10 S is a special configuration of Windows 10 called <ahref="https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4020089/windows-10-in-s-mode-faq">href="https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-and-windows-11-in-s-mode-faq-851057d6-1ee9-b9e5-c30b-93baebeebc85"> S mode</a>. The major difference with Windows 10 S is that there is an easy way to switch out of Smode.</p></li> <li>mode.</p> </li> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M201210080"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2012-10</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p><ahref="http://www.itworld.com/article/2832657/operating-systems/microsoft-metro-app-store-lock-down.html">href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190917162027/https://www.itworld.com/article/2832657/microsoft-metro-app-store-lock-down.html"> Windows 8 on “mobile devices” (now defunct) was ajail</a>.</p></li>jail</a>.</p> </li> </ul> <h3 id="consoles">Game consoles</h3> <p>No game can run on the console unless the console's manufacturer has authorized it. Alas,Iwe can't find a article to cite as a reference for this fact. Please inform us if you know of one.</p></div><!-- for id="content", starts<ul class="blurbs"> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M201003280"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2010-03</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>Sony restricted access to theinclude abovePlayStation 3 GPU, so people who installed a GNU/Linux operating system on the console couldn't use it at full capacity. When some of them broke the restriction, <a href="https://blog.playstation.com/2010/03/28/ps3-firmware-v3-21-update/">Sony removed the ability to install other operating systems</a>. Then users broke that restriction too, but <a href="https://www.engadget.com/2011-01-12-sony-follows-up-officially-sues-geohot-and-fail0verflow-over-ps.html">got sued by Sony</a>.</p> </li> <!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-jails.html. --> <li id="M200512270"> <!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2005-12</small>' --><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" --> <p>To install and use third-party operating systems and programs on the Xbox console, <a href="https://events.ccc.de/congress/2005/fahrplan/attachments/591-paper_xbox.pdf">people had to break the restrictions imposed by Microsoft</a>.</p> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <!--#include virtual="/proprietary/proprietary-menu.html" --> <!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" --> <divid="footer">id="footer" role="contentinfo"> <div class="unprintable"> <p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a> the FSF. Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>.</p> <p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, replace it with the translation of these two: We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> <p>For information on coordinating andsubmittingcontributing translations of our web pages, see <a href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations README</a>. --> Please see the <a href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations README</a> for information on coordinating andsubmittingcontributing translations of this article.</p> </div> <!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to files generated as part of manuals) on the GNU web server should be under CC BY-ND 4.0. Please do NOT change or remove this without talking with the webmasters or licensing team first. Please make sure the copyright date is consistent with the document. For web pages, it is ok to list just the latest year the document was modified, or published. If you wish to list earlier years, that is ok too. Either "2001, 2002, 2003" or "2001-2003" are ok for specifying years, as long as each year in the range is in fact a copyrightable year, i.e., a year in which the document was published (including being publicly visible on the web or in a revision control system). There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. --> <p>Copyright ©2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 20182014-2024 Free Software Foundation, Inc.</p> <p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>.</p> <!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" --> <p class="unprintable">Updated: <!-- timestamp start --> $Date: 2024/03/26 14:05:08 $ <!-- timestamp end --> </p> </div></div></div><!-- for class="inner", starts in the banner include --> </body> </html>