Eben Moglen and his Facebook Death Wish

Our beloved and respected Eben Moglen is back in the news this week.  We met Eban a year ago during his FreedomBox days:

SuperGenius Eben Moglen wants free and unfettered access to the internet and he’s putting his money where his mind is by creating the “FreedomBox” — a device that plugs into the wall and gives you unfettered and unrestricted access to the internet — to help make certain that a government cannot disconnect its people from communicating with the rest of the world during a perceived crisis.


Continue reading → Eben Moglen and his Facebook Death Wish

More Apple Consumer Harassment

I’ve had my fill of Apple customer support and AppleCare and Takedown Threats from Apple, but part of the residual tide from reporting on those uncomfortable experiences is the private feedback I get from our readers.

Continue reading → More Apple Consumer Harassment

Warning: Check Your AppleCare Support Profile!

UPDATE: February 2, 2012 — 24 hours have come and gone since Apple gave me 24 hours to remove this entire article from publication.

Apple Supervisor James finally called me back this morning to confirm the Takedown Notice was real — bad grammar and all — and that it came from Apple. He asked me if Apple did anything to me for not taking down the article and I told him, “No.” So far, all my Apple IDs and developer access and iTunes Match and such were still active.

Then James then told me I could risk doing nothing with this article and see what happens next, or I could just remove the quoted responses from AppleCare support in this article and that should be enough.

When I told him removing the quotes would not put me in compliance with the Takedown Notice because Apple demanded the removal of the entire article, James said I could wait and see if the Apple legal department contacted me again or not and then decide what to do.

He said Apple “didn’t want me to feel more threatened than you already are.”

I asked him to send me an email confirming that removing the quoted email would legally satisfy Apple’s Takedown Notice, and he said he’d check on that and get back to me.

In the meantime, and in the spirit of Apple Fellowship — and, more importantly, of not wanting to deal with this all day every day any longer — I have removed the Apple email responses from this article. If you want to read the full text of the Takedown Notice — you can still read it on Tech Crunch — at least until Apple forces them to take it down.

SOPA and PIPA certainly stung — but there’s nothing quite like having Apple directly slap you in the face.

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EDITORIAL NOTE: February 1, 2012 — Be certain to read the update to this article — Apple Threatens Go Inside Magazine with Article Takedown Notice — for the latest on this silly saga!  Email headers included!   AppleCare responses in the comments included!  Read on, MacDuff!

On January 14, 2012, my Apple Thunderbolt display died.  Apple did the right thing and gave me a new display, but now, 12 days later — 12 “24 hours” later — Apple cannot get the AppleCare warranty transferred from the dead display to the new one:

Matthew also warned me to get in touch with AppleCare to make sure my service plan gets transferred to the new serial number of my replacement Thunderbolt display.  He made a note on my account explaining everything that happened.

Continue reading → Warning: Check Your AppleCare Support Profile!

Truth or Dare: Direct-To-Consumer Drug Advertising

by Tammy Tillotson

“I dare you to call your doctor.”

Quoted from a Commercial for Diflucan viewed on PAX Channel 47

In 1997 FDA rules cleared the way for pharmaceutical companies to begin what has become a vehement advertising campaign for prescription drugs. Direct-To-Consumer ads are obviously working considering the fact that pharmaceutical companies are investing billions in ads that reach consumers via their televisions and nearly every other form of mass media.

Continue reading → Truth or Dare: Direct-To-Consumer Drug Advertising