Apple censors Lawrence Lessig's discussion of iOS 7 Wi-Fi problems

October 31, 2013

Just when you thought Apple couldn't get more censorious or heavy-handed, it surprises you and takes things to a whole new level.

Creative Commons founder Lawrence Lessig found himself being thrown into Apple's memory hole this week when he tried to draw attention to a way in which some Apple users could regain Wi-Fi functionality in the wake of iOS 7's problems with same.

According to Violet Blue at ZDNet, some Apple users who upgraded to iOS 7 have been plagued with malfunctioning Wi-Fi, and since September have had their questions consistently ignored on Apple's official forums. Lessig was one of those bitten by this bug.

Lessig found that for U.K. users at least, one possible form of redress might be available in the form of returning the device under warranty laws in the U.K. Almost immediately after posting that comment on Apple's forums, it vanished. Lessig reposted the comment, only to have it deleted once again -- and this time, Lessig received a warning from Apple that "these posts are not allowed on our forums."

Astounded, Lessig wrote about his experiences on his blog, and expressed dismay at the way comments were being scrubbed from the forums for no defensible reason. "When did it become inappropriate to inform people about legally protected rights related to technical issues?" he declared. "Is talking about legal rights the new porn?"

Lessig also echoed a complaint others have made about Apple: The company remains frustratingly tight-lipped about most every issue raised. "Unlike really helpful companies which try to reward people who spend time making community boards the best source for technical support by engaging with posts, and at least acknowledging the problems," Lessig wrote, "Apple’s policy seems to be a 'never comment' policy. Which leads its users -- and again, people who are volunteering their time to help lower Apple’s customer support cost -- to express increasing exasperation at the unanswered problems."

Since his experience, other posts in the same vein also have been deleted, according to Lessig.

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/t/ios/apple-censors-lawrence-lessigs-discussion-of-ios-7-wi-fi-problems-229905?source=rss_infoworld_blogs
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