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0 pointstomalbrc2y ago0 comments

So, everything google and any other "big" company does, i can reverse engineer and resell the infrastructure that i'm using, free of charge?

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6 comments · 2 top-level

nhumrich2y ago· 2 in thread

Yes. Thats how competition works. The entire internet is built on this concept. Some languages even use githubs infrastructure free of charge. Npm was the way in its early days. Go still is this way. Also, there are already so many products that do this. Custom gmail apps, anything email, DNS, Anything that uses google maps

See Reddit clients vs charging for API debate

If apple wants to shut down beeper, there is a very very very easy way. Release iMessage for android. And suddenly beeper is dead overnight. All they have to do is build the product people want.

giantrobot2y ago

The problem isn't the API. If I build a service using the S3 API but run it on my own infrastructure, that's competition to Amazon. If I somehow write a system that uses Amazon's S3 infrastructure without Amazon's approval, I'm probably violating the CFAA.

Beeper's problem isn't implementing the iMessage API but providing access to Apple's infrastructure without authorization.

iAMkenough2y ago

Lawmakers question why Apple doesn't provide outside authorization to their default secure messaging app, or provide their own secure means of messaging non-Apple hardware a family member might be provided by their cell carrier.

The answer seems to be Apple wants to force families to purchase an iPhone for every family member, or download and agree to the terms of a third-party app in order to securely communicate.

lukeschlather2y ago· 2 in thread

Beeper isn't "reselling infrastructure" they're building a compatible clone of Apple's infrastructure. And yes, a variety of companies have reverse engineered and copied Amazon S3 for example.

The difference is that Apple's business model is built around preventing you from communicating with iMessage while Amazon is happy to let you copy things from anywhere into or out of your Amazon S3 bucket (for a price.)

fh93022y ago

This is not correct. The Beeper client directly connects to Apple's servers while bypassing authorization checks through serial number spoofing. They did not build their own infrastructure based on reverse engineering iMessage.

lukeschlather2y ago

You have to do that to communicate with iMessage. The infrastructure is the Internet, Apple is just operating a mailbox and the only way to send a letter to that mailbox over the public infrastructure is to bypass the auth check.

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