Apple bans hackers from App Store

There are other reasons, besides passwords being typed wrong too often, that Apple will disable an account; fraud being the most common. If reports of fraud associated with a credit card number are reported from a bank, Apple will shut down all accounts with those CC numbers. Rather than crying foul, it's possible there was a mix up, or that something he did triggered a fraud like activity, and his account was shut down for those reasons as well. If resetting his password does not work, he should contact Apple. I sincerely doubt there was a direct action on behalf of Apple staff to target two individuals. In a sense, doing so would be illegal seizure of assets without legal authority to do so. It would seem more likely if Apple were pursuing action against this hacker that they would use the information on file with his Apple ID to send cease and desist letters and/or file criminal charges. Action like this seems highly unlikely.

I will most likely get flamed for posting this.

I love my MacBook. I think the iPhone is extraordinarily great. I think Apple makes the best products out there. But I will not buy an iPhone nor an iPad because Apple is becoming Big Brother.

I run OSX on my MacBook. I run third party software on my MacBook. I hacked a file so I can run the 64bit Snow Leopard kernel on my MacBook. I dual boot into Linux on my MacBook. I truly own my MacBook.

Yet if I were to buy an iPhone or the upcoming iPad, I could not do most of those things. I could not tinker with it. I could not jailbreak it (lest I be banned from the app store). I could only run "approved" apps on it. I could not run Linux on it without jailbreaking it. I could only do what Big Brother, i.e. Apple, deems is socially acceptable for me to do with it. I would never truly own my iPhone or iPad.

Apple, do not be the Big Brother guy on the big screen in the 1984 Macintosh ad.

This happened to me and I am just a normal consumer. I had to change my password a few times and it stopped.

Adam: Did I say your kids -couldn't- have iPhones? They're obviously your kids, not mine, so it's not up to me. I just think it's a little early.

One, you're going to have to deal with upgrade envy. You get the new one, they're gonna want the new one. You were a kid once - you know how it works.

Two, what do you do if/when they lose it? If you don't replace it, they're gonna be mad and you won't be able to use the GPS tracker thing. If you do, you reinforce that it's ok to be irresponsible and lose expensive gadgets.

But like I said, they're your kids and it's your call.

@ BeyondtheTech -- I'm with you all the way. My grandkid has just turned two and just loves my iPhone. She can Slide to Unlock, access iPod and Photos and she loves watching and listening to all her video files. She has been doing this for 3-4 months now. Unfortunately, she also has this annoying habit of re-arranging my icons, so I have suggested that her mother buys her an iPod Touch.

I believe that when a little child has the ability to use a device that sometimes baffles grown ups, it's time to develop that ability, not stifle it.

How Apple responds to "hackers" is a third rail issue for me. I jailbroke my iPod touch and iPhone from the beginning and have nothing but gratitude and respect for the efforts of the developers who dare to use the devices they paid for without consulting Apple for permission. I have been using Apple products for twenty-five years, but if they ever get really punitive and proactive in waging a war with the so-called "hackers" (an intentionally loaded pejorative) and I am forced to choose sides, Apple will end up losing. I'd jump ship to Android or (gad!) Windows Phone 7, as distasteful as I'd find those platforms. I am not deluded about Google or Microsoft's own issues on this subject, but I'd walk away from Apple just to keep more players in the game.

My business alone doesn't mean shit, of course, but it would be a matter of principle.

People who feel this way are not in the majority. Most people buy whatever works best. But there might be as many as 10% of current iPhone users who would consider leaving iPhone depending on how Apple deals with these "hackers."

You know what I had for long waits and entertainment when I was a kid?

An imagination.

I agree. My 4 and 6 year olds love their hand-me-down iphones. It is great to have when we are waiting (for anything). They can watch their movies and there are a lot of educational games to play... as well as a lot of just fun ones of course.

I'm really tired of reading stupid comments and people's rage on these tech sites. If you go to any other non-tech web site, for example a science blog, people generally make nice comments towards each other and the article. NOT HERE.

It seems technology has given us tons, except improve our human behaviour.

It's very frustrating to find only insults, rage and lots of attitude in the comments section. It does say tons about how bad we are as a society, when we can't even have a civilized conversation without insulting each other or taking everything that's being said to the negative side.

Please reflect about this. Let's make the internet a friendlier place.

As a race, we better evolve as the alternative is extinction.

@adam
all he said was kids dont *need* them

you need to quit whining like the 3 year olds we're talking about