June 29: iPhone restricts users, GPLv3 frees them

FSF has just released an article which points to the two significant launches that are happening today, June 29, the launch of Apple's iPhone and FSF's GPLv3 (which will happen, along with a live stream of Richard Stallman's announcement at noon EDT, 4 PM UTC or 6 PM CEST) asserting that Mac OS X running within iPhone might contain GPLed code. If iPhone contains DRM which disallows modifications of software that is running on it and yet contains code which may be under the GPLv3, Apple may be in violation.

"On Friday, June 29, not everyone in the continental U.S. will be waiting in line to purchase a $500 iPhone. In fact, hundreds of thousands of digital aficionados around the globe won't be standing in line at all, for June 29 marks the release of version 3 of the GNU General Public License (GPL). Version 2 of the GPL governs the world's largest body of free software—software that is radically reshaping the industry and threatening the proprietary technology model represented by the iPhone."

"Peter Brown, executive director of the FSF said, “Tomorrow, Steve Jobs and Apple release a product crippled with proprietary software and digital restrictions: crippled, because a device that isn't under the control of its owner works against the interests of its owner. We know that Apple has built its operating system, OS X, and its web browser Safari, using GPL-covered work—it will be interesting to see to what extent the iPhone uses GPLed software.”" -- Read more