Apple's Secrecy Irks Congress

politico.com:

Apple is famous for its veil of secrecy around the new iPads and iPhones. But Sen. John Rockefeller and others in Congress wonder whether the company has more than technological innovations to hide.

Read the whole story: politico.com

Comments

[webandgraphics]

05:38 PM on 06/15/2010

Answer:

Nunya Bizzness..

[themasterspeaks]

04:34 AM on 06/15/2010

The administration is very self-conscious about having failed to quickly dismantle MMS and
clean up the GW prostitution to oil, and obviously was DELUSIONAL in having said offshore
drilling was now safe and to be expanded. The truth is the situation of Regulatory
disaster obviously extends to the APPROVAL of the iphone4 last week without
any extensive peer reviewed TESTING on mammals of such a device. IT IS OBVIOUS
TO EVERYONE WITH ANY KNOWLEDGE AT ALL the iphone4 is a looming disaster
in the making, and that the ADMINISTRATION needs to invoke its OVERSIGHT
powers to STOP the upcoming release pending CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION
of the situation. To not do so is a flagrant error of judgment virtually identical with
the earliar claim that offshore is now safe. The world's leading experts should come
to congressional hearing and testify why the iphone4 is inherently unsafe.

[themasterspeaks]

06:09 AM on 06/15/2010

What everyone wants to know is how the iphone4 became
FCC-certified equipment?
Who at the FCC supervised the certification process involving this phone? Is that person
or group a holdover from GW days, or a Obama person? What educational level is that person? Are they a political appointee or do they have the scientific credentials to make such a decision? The certification of this telephone goes against the well known general safety guidelines:
Do not touch or move the antenna while the unit is transmitting or receiving.
Do not hold the antenna is very close to or touching any exposed parts of the body, especially the face or eyes, while transmitting.
The fact is the RADICAL DESIGN CHANGE was kept SECRET until the DAY
Jobs showed, and so too was the certification process. Are Axelrod and Rahm asleep?

[themasterspeaks]

06:33 AM on 06/15/2010

Who are the Commissioners of the FCC? Are any of them Apple stockholders?
IF SO, how many shares do they own, and when were they acquired? sold?
When were each of them made aware of the RADICAL DESIGN CHANGE
of the iphone4? And the well known VIOLATION OF ALL ESTABLISH SAFETY GUIDELINES? ARE THERE ANY REAL OR POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST?

Julius Genachowski
Chairman

Michael J. Copps
Commissioner

Robert M. McDowell
Commissioner

Mignon Clyburn
Commissioner

Meredith Attwell Baker
Commissioner

[themasterspeaks]

06:39 AM on 06/15/2010

What would be fascinating to know about are the contacts made between the
Washington DC Apple lobby group and the Commissioners. At a congressional
investigation it would be interesting to have all emails presented into evidence
so that the representatives of the people can ask questions which
penetrate into what exactly has been going on, and clean up the air
about this apparent prima facie abbrogation of the duties of being a commisioner
sworn to serve the interests of the people, and only the people, and not APPLE.

[trinity]

12:26 AM on 06/15/2010

Apple is probably just trying to keep Bill Gates from peeking...

Seriously though, why the concern now? Can the iPad solve the Gulf Oil spill and miraculously make BP figure out how to do their job? And is this the same Sen. Rockefeller who protects the likes of Massey Energy and other King Coal companies from government eyes?

[JohnnyTraveler]

11:08 PM on 06/14/2010

Here's a secret Steve Jobs doesn't want you to know.
It cost 17 dollars to make a first gen Iphone.
It costs less to make the current model.

[webandgraphics]

05:39 PM on 06/15/2010

Good for him. Sounds like a smart business man.

[CamBrown99]

10:26 PM on 06/14/2010

Take care of oil spills and banks run amok first, okay? Focus.

[censeo]

09:33 PM on 06/14/2010

Slow news day:
"When Apple didn’t participate in an APRIL hearing on children’s online privacy, the West Virginia Democrat who chairs the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, gave voice to his suspicions."

Hearing in April, today is June 14th. Only political news today is Obama will speak tomorrow.
S l o w n e w s d a y!

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38481.html#ixzz0qsfywqnh

[Adam Bomb]

06:38 PM on 06/14/2010

Government secrecy irks Adam Bomb.

[miles120]

06:02 PM on 06/14/2010

Maybe Rockefeller and Pryor are simply irked that Apple isn't lining their pockets. What a horrible thought, that there might be a game outside of Washington.

[GoDogGo]

05:42 PM on 06/14/2010

Just wondering: If I want to keep my private life secret, wouldn't that irk Congress?

Secrecy in technology is a marketing tool. It's one Apple obviously wields successfully. It creates expectation from markets, anticipation from consumers and shields innovation from competitors, giving them a head-start in emerging markets.

I don't think it's "secrecy" that irked Congress so much as them declining to testify at a pet-project hearing. Just speculation though...

[gnudarwin]

03:21 PM on 06/14/2010

Not surprised to hear that I am not the only one who irked at Apple secrecy (TM).

Regards,
proclus
http://www.gnu-darwin.org/

[Cheesedog]

03:19 PM on 06/14/2010

Apple and Google didn’t participate in an April hearing on children’s online privacy?

Well, by all means waste tax dollars on an investigation. It ain't like there are any other really pressing issues for politicians to worry about..

[BookwormMN]

03:01 PM on 06/14/2010

Time for congress to get a little closer to the Board of Directors and Officers at Haliburton. They're a greater threat to life on this Earth than any electronic gadget manufacturer.

[clearthinker16]

02:29 PM on 06/14/2010

And Congress has asked the same of how many other high tech companies. Just because Apple is not donating to their coffers, they must be doing something wrong. This is a shakedown and nothing more.

[kinogod]

12:30 PM on 06/14/2010

Hahaha, I'd ask the same thing of congress - WTF is going on in there? The difference is, I guess, that apple delivers inspiring results. Congress? Not-so-much.

[gdatomic]

12:58 PM on 06/14/2010

Superb summation. I was going to post one word in response to this article: "Silly".

[themasterspeaks]

12:27 PM on 06/14/2010

Here are some good questions for the Congressmen to ask Board Directors JOBS and GORE
about the iphone4:

What did you know and when did you come to know that this radical design of the iphone4
might well be exceedingly dangerous?

Did you know it might interfere with the blood-brain barrier in human beings and
lead to sever neurological damage? If so, when did you become aware of this
threat and why did you discount it.

When did you realize the vastly accelerated dangers of brain tumors and skin
cancer in this design, and were you not bothered by the fact that children
would be particular susceptible for multipe reasons? Did you not think
it would be wise to table the design change and request clarrification
based on biological testing?

etc. etc. etc. etc.etc.