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Communications United States Apple

FCC Commissioner Wants To Investigate Apple Over Beeper Mini Shutdown (theverge.com) 63

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to investigate Apple's response to Beeper Mini -- the app that briefly brought iMessage to Android. From a report: During the State of the Net Conference on Monday, Carr said the FCC should look into whether Apple's move "complies with the FCC's Part 14 rules" about accommodating users with disabilities.

Beeper Mini launched last year, allowing Android users to gain access to iMessage features, including blue message bubbles and the ability to send high-quality photos and videos. However, Apple quickly blocked Beeper Mini users and continued to shut down attempts to make the app work, leading its developers to eventually just give up. The FCC's Part 14 rules lay out requirements that "advanced communications service," such as iMessage, must follow to ensure they're accessible.
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FCC Commissioner Wants To Investigate Apple Over Beeper Mini Shutdown More

FCC Commissioner Wants To Investigate Apple Over Beeper Mini Shutdown

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  • When I text, I only use Apple imessage. Mostly, they won't let me use anything else. If I even tried, they threatened to burn down their entire campus.

  • When did it transition from some project to 'advanced communication service'?

    If I create an imessage clone in my home lab am I required to let anyone access it? WTF.

    Apple runs the servers, they can do with them wtf they want to do with them.

    Fuck you if you want your blue bubble without an iPhone, grow up. Buy an iPhone or stop having the stupid ass blue bubble envy. This is a stupid thing to even be talking about.

    Private company runs private service and doesn't allow random users to access private servic

    • The heart of the matter is whether it is anti competitive behavior. Your argument "their house, their rules. " that can be thrown back in your face in that the house Apple is in also has rules, which Apple may be breaking.

      • Re: When did it transition (Score:4, Informative)

        by Registered Coward v2 ( 447531 ) on Tuesday February 13, 2024 @09:42AM (#64236400)

        The heart of the matter is whether it is anti competitive behavior. Your argument "their house, their rules. " that can be thrown back in your face in that the house Apple is in also has rules, which Apple may be breaking.

        Part 14 has nothing to do with anti-competitive behavior, it requires the device to be accessible, which iMessage is to users with disabilities. The pass through part:

        Information Pass Through. Equipment used for advanced communications services, including end user equipment, network equipment, and software must pass through cross-manufacturer, nonproprietary, industry-standard codes, translation protocols, formats or other information necessary to provide advanced communications services in an accessible format, if achievable. Signal compression technologies shall not remove information needed for access or shall restore it upon decompression.

        seems to be covered by SMS as an industry standard protocol.

        Other sections deal with physical ports, not software, interoperability.

        It will be interesting to see what the FCC does.

        • Maybe they are saying android users have some kind of disability?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Merk42 ( 1906718 )

          The heart of the matter is whether it is anti competitive behavior. Your argument "their house, their rules. " that can be thrown back in your face in that the house Apple is in also has rules, which Apple may be breaking.

          Part 14 has nothing to do with anti-competitive behavior, it requires the device to be accessible, which iMessage is to users with disabilities..

          Except for the green bubbles which don't have accessible contrast and go against Apple's own design rules (ironically done by design to make them look as inferior as possible)

          • As usual, you people are ignoring history and the actual facts. Green bubbles were not introduced by Apple to bully or stigmatize non iPhone users. And I dare you to point me to an Apple marketing campaign or other messaging beyond Tim Cook's casual "buy your mother an iPhone" quip* that says otherwise. Nor do they indicate a crippled experience. They signify the normal and standard text messaging that everybody has always had. When the iPhone first launched and iMessage did not exist, the bubbles were

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by Merk42 ( 1906718 )

              Green bubbles were not introduced by Apple to bully or stigmatize non iPhone users. ... When the iPhone first launched and iMessage did not exist, the bubbles were green... ALL of them ALL the time even between two iPhone users.

              OK, so then Apple has always been guilty of their messaging bubbles not meeting contrast standards, thus not meeting the requirements of Part 14.

              • > OK, so then Apple has always been guilty of their
                > messaging bubbles not meeting contrast
                > standards, thus not meeting the requirements of
                > Part 14.

                Only if you cannot be bothered to switch on the Differentiate Without Color setting; another fact and feature that you have oh-so-conveniently ignored.

              • Sorry, what actually is the difference between green and blue bubbles regarding contrast?
                I see no difference.
                And checking my Android: SMS Is black on grey, LINE is black on green, Skype is black on light blue, Telegram is black on light green, Signal is white on dark blue, WhatsApp is black in light green.

          • The heart of the matter is whether it is anti competitive behavior. Your argument "their house, their rules. " that can be thrown back in your face in that the house Apple is in also has rules, which Apple may be breaking.

            Part 14 has nothing to do with anti-competitive behavior, it requires the device to be accessible, which iMessage is to users with disabilities..

            Except for the green bubbles which don't have accessible contrast and go against Apple's own design rules (ironically done by design to make them look as inferior as possible)

            The entire UI for all of Apple's Products have several Accessibility Controls for Color, Contrast, Zoom, Black/White Inversion, etc.

            This thoughtfully includes Green Bubbles.

            Hater.

        • seems to be covered by SMS as an industry standard protocol.

          RCS enters the chat

    • apple can just charge $0.10 message for non apple devices!

      • And how would that work? SMS messages are charged by the carrier as they control the network. iMessages and Google messages use the data network of the cellular radio or Wi-Fi which would require metering/packet sniffing of some sort. Also SMS charges are outlined in the cellular contract that consumers have with the carrier. There have been no contracts between Apple and Android users.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by PPH ( 736903 )

      Please don't hold back. Tell us how you really feel.

      But seriously, I agree. It's Apple's toy and they get to invite over whomever they want to play with it. And the FCC needs to butt out with it's "advanced telecommunications service". If people think I'm going to take anyone seriously just because they text me in blue bubbles, they need to get a life. Beyond their high school clique, that is.

    • Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)

      by MachineShedFred ( 621896 )

      Just to be clear, you are arguing in favor of proprietary user lock-in horseshit and bad user experiences, and against ubiquitous cross-platform messaging interoperability.

      Why?

      Do you understand you are literally arguing to keep the worst barrier to modern interpersonal communications in place, where the only benefit is to the world's biggest company's profits? Do you understand that you are arguing against securing all iPhone customer communications with end-to-end encryption by forcing the use of incredib

      • Just to be clear, you are arguing in favor of proprietary user lock-in horseshit and bad user experiences, and against ubiquitous cross-platform messaging interoperability.

        Why?

        Do you understand you are literally arguing to keep the worst barrier to modern interpersonal communications in place, where the only benefit is to the world's biggest company's profits? Do you understand that you are arguing against securing all iPhone customer communications with end-to-end encryption by forcing the use of incredibly insecure clear-text SMS as the lowest-common-denominator of messaging?

        What do you get out of Apple acting like assholes to their own customers?

        Hyperbolic much?!?

        Jeezus, get a fucking LIFE!

    • I can't see any bubles on my android so blue bubble envy is not the issue.

      If they would implementing rcs, then I wouldn't care.

      Knowing that if people that have an iPhone include me in a group message, they will all lose quality on texts or videos sucks.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by aergern ( 127031 )

      You didn't even read the blurb let alone the article.

      " and the ability to send high-quality photos and videos."

      This is the reason, not the damn bubble color. SMFH.

      • You didn't even read the blurb let alone the article.

        " and the ability to send high-quality photos and videos."

        This is the reason, not the damn bubble color. SMFH.

        It's the CARRIERS, not Apple, who are Data-Decimating Images over MMS/SMS.

        Stop blaming Apple for everything.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • But we're Apple interacts with non Apple employees they have left their house and now our operating in the public sector, which in return for legal access to the public sector for legal commercial Business there are rules.
        If you're going to play in the public arena, you have to follow public rules.

        LOLWUT?!?

    • When did it transition from some project to 'advanced communication service'?

      If I create an imessage clone in my home lab am I required to let anyone access it? WTF.

      Apple runs the servers, they can do with them wtf they want to do with them.

      Fuck you if you want your blue bubble without an iPhone, grow up. Buy an iPhone or stop having the stupid ass blue bubble envy. This is a stupid thing to even be talking about.

      Private company runs private service and doesn't allow random users to access private service against rules that it made up IN ITS OWN HOUSE.

      Please explain to me why the fuck apple has to 'open' this up to anyone?

      FWIW - I use android, I get shitty videos pixelated from iPhone users (i.e. everyoen else in my family), I don't get a blue bubble, AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU CARE.

      If you thought Beeper Mini was going to last, you were an idiot. If you paid for it, you are definitely an idiot.

      Apple can let whoever they want into their house and changing that is like saying I can't control who uses the servers in my closet. Fuck you if you think Apple should be forced to let you onto there servers for ANY reason. Their house, their rules. If you don't like their rules, GO THE FUCK HOME - make your own if you think you're billy bad ass and want to be in control.

      Perfect!

  • What Carr is saying is that Android users are users with disabilities.

  • Permission to Spam (Score:4, Interesting)

    by tlhIngan ( 30335 ) <slashdot@worf.ERDOSnet minus math_god> on Tuesday February 13, 2024 @10:21AM (#64236512)

    I have to say I've never given out my phone number, but I've seen a sharp increase in iMessage spam since the whole Beeper thing. And yes, this isn't SMS spam, the iMessage users are using fake email addresses.

    I'm thinking the whole business is less about "interoperability" and more about spamming and scamming iMessage users.

    (And not that it matters, but I don't text, so the vast majority of what I receive is spam).

    • Ever since my mom got an iPhone, which was before this beeper thing, she's gotten a LOT more spam and phishing messages that mostly come from iCloud addresses.

      It's like the smug apple commercial said:

      "Yeah if you don't have an iPhone, you don't get iPhone exclusive spam."

      If I were a spammer, I'd say this is a brilliant idea. You have an audience consisting of mostly clueless people with extra money to spend on crap they don't really need. What more could you ask for?

    • And what, if anything, has prevented "spammers" from doing the exact same thing in a VM that can run literally anywhere, using BlueBubbles - which has existed far longer, and is far more accessible for scripting and spamming as it's running on real MacOS - which essentially throws the message through an actual iMessage client using the "private" API in the VM?

      Or even just replicating that avenue of messaging with their own easily written script on a Mac Mini sitting in a closet, firing off spam at a rate ju

      • And what, if anything, has prevented "spammers" from doing the exact same thing in a VM that can run literally anywhere, using BlueBubbles - which has existed far longer, and is far more accessible for scripting and spamming as it's running on real MacOS - which essentially throws the message through an actual iMessage client using the "private" API in the VM?

        Or even just replicating that avenue of messaging with their own easily written script on a Mac Mini sitting in a closet, firing off spam at a rate just under where Apple would rate-limit them?

        Oh, nothing. And, in fact, that's a far better setup than Beeper Mini ever would have been for this purpose.

        Stop trying to blame things on Beeper because they had the audacity to try to make cross-platform messaging better for literally everyone except the greedy assholes in upper management at Apple.

        Beeper wasn't doing anything so laudable. They were just trying to cash-in on ridiculous "Blue Bubble Envy".

        • Except for all the other chat services that Beeper supports, and still supports.

          Tell us you don't know what you are talking about, without telling us that you don't know what you are talking about.

          • Except for all the other chat services that Beeper supports, and still supports.

            Tell us you don't know what you are talking about, without telling us that you don't know what you are talking about.

            So they're YAMA (Yet Another Message App) on other Platforms. Fine. But on iOS, IMHO, they existed SOLELY to Exploit Blue Bubble Envy

            • Your opinion seems to be based on completely fact-free information.

              You just established you don't know what you are talking about, and then tried to cover it with doubling down on something that makes absolutely no sense:

              Why would someone run Beeper on iOS when they already have iMessage? Your claim of "But on iOS, IMHO, they existed SOLELY to Exploit Blue Bubble Envy" makes absolutely NO sense.

              Why would someone run Beeper on iOS, when Apple mandates all SMS messages must be displayed in iMessage? I know

              • Your opinion seems to be based on completely fact-free information.

                You just established you don't know what you are talking about, and then tried to cover it with doubling down on something that makes absolutely no sense:

                Why would someone run Beeper on iOS when they already have iMessage? Your claim of "But on iOS, IMHO, they existed SOLELY to Exploit Blue Bubble Envy" makes absolutely NO sense.

                Why would someone run Beeper on iOS, when Apple mandates all SMS messages must be displayed in iMessage? I know users sometimes make silly decisions, but why would someone choose to make a worse messaging experience for themselves?

                Beeper was never for people on iOS, because Apple fundamentally and strategically blocks developers from creating a unified messaging experience on iOS.

                Let me help you out with some easily digestible facts:
                - Beeper is a unified messaging platform for ANDROID, MAC, and WINDOWS.
                - Beeper supports chat network client plug-ins for many major chat networks including Instagram / Facebook, Whatsapp, Signal, SMS, Google Messages, Slack, Discord, etc.
                - Beeper made an iMessage bridge plug-in for their unified messaging platform that is only one piece of their offering, which has gotten the most publicity
                - Apple didn't like that they did that, so they've been fucking with the users including hardware bans, which sounds mighty anticompetitive but IANAL.
                - Beeper stopped supporting their own iMessage bridge because Apple made it into an untenable game of cat-and-mouse that was harming users
                - Beeper STILL EXISTS AS A UNIFIED CHAT APP without iMessage

                So guess what: you still don't know what you are talking about.

                Sorry, I misspoke. Too early in the morning, sorry!

                I did not mean Beeper for iOS. I meant the Beeper iOS-Emulator/Spoofer for Android.

                But the sentiment about it being nothing more than a cash grab, exploiting a silly Blue Bubble Envy, remain valid.

  • Translation (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr is calling upon Apple for more donations to their Republican War Chest.

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