Apple's App Store Ban Draws Laughs From iPhone Hackers
Sherif Hashim, an iPhone developer who developed a hack for the latest Apple iPhone OS 3.1.3, boasted in a Twitter post on Valentine's Day at 7:21 p.m. that he received a message that his Apple ID was banned for "security reasons."
"That's what i get when i try to go to the app store, they must be really angry :)))))," wrote Hashim in his Twitter post.
"And guess what my apple ID was, "[email protected]", what a fool was me not to notice :))), can't help laughing, they are babies :)))," tweeted Hashim at 7:23 pm.
iH8sn0w, a Toronto iPhone hacker who allegedly developed the XEMN tool designed to unlock iPhone 3.1.3 radio baseband for the 3G and 3GS, told Hashim in a reply on Twitter that his ID had also been banned by Apple after he posted XEMN. "lol, they did that to my ih8sn0wyday[@t]googmail.com too. (right after I posted XEMN)," he scoffed.
Apple watchers suspect that Hashim and other iPhone hackers that open up the iPhone to other carriers will use another ID just as iH8sn0w did or find a way around the Apple ban.
iH8sn0w's bio on Twitter lists him as an "iPhone Hacker" that "gets beat up by his sister and eats donuts. But is a genius."
Hashim's bio on Twitter lists him as a "neurosurgeon and iPhone baseband hacker."
Hashim even posted an image on Feb. 15 of the Apple ID security rejection on his iPhone. "FUNNY :)))," he tweeted. "They are plain ridiculous! Just create another account;)," tweeted thestolz in reply.
But just 14 hours ago, Hashim tweeted that he "Had a new account already, but using my wife's visa as mine was just rejected."
It remains to be seen whether the Apple ban represents a new offensive by Apple to reassert its control over the iPhone platform.
Apple has in the past taken a number of measures to prevent iPhones from being hacked.
Some are concerned that Apple may be attempting to ban all jailbroken iPhones from accessing the iPhone App Store.
The Apple ban is a slap in the face to the launch of the new Wholesale Applications Community at the Mobile World Congress conference this week.
The Wholesale Applications Community is an alliance of 24 of the world's largest telecom carriers aimed at creating a unified open platform that lets smartphone developers build an application once, and deploy it on any carrier, device or OS. The alliance, ironically, includes Apple carrier AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, China Mobile and many other carriers around the world.