Apple

[David Icke Bot]

Apple



Last Edit by Humphrey

[David Icke Bot]

The Daily Mail

Paradise Papers reveal how iPhone giant Apple set up secretive new offshore structure to avoid billions in taxes after Irish crackdown
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5055537/Paradise-Papers-reveal-Apple-set-offshore-avoid-tax.html



'The Paradise Papers have revealed how Apple set up a secretive new offshore structure to avoid billions in taxes after Ireland cracked down on the corporation.

The company 'shopped around' for a tax haven before moving most of its offshore cash reserves to Jersey.

Its two key subsidiaries were managed from the offices of law firm Appleby on the Channel Island from the start of 2015 until early 2016 - meaning Apple would have been able to avoid billions in tax around the world.

Until 2014 it had been exploiting a financial loophole in the US and Ireland known as the 'double Irish'.

It let Apple funnel its sales through Irish subsidiaries that were effectively stateless meaning it paid as little as 0.005% tax on its European profits in some years.

The amount was a stark contrast to the Irish corporation levy of 12.5% or the US rate of 35% allowing the iPhone manufacturer to keep billions of pounds extra in profits.'



Read More : Paradise Papers reveal how iPhone giant Apple set up secretive new offshore structure to avoid billions in taxes after Irish crackdown


Icke




Last Edit by Humphrey

[David Icke Bot]

How Apple Takes a Bite Out of All of Us by Ducking Billions in U.S. Taxes

https://www.alternet.org/economy/how-apple-takes-bite-out-all-us


'It is difficult to name a company with a better popular image than Apple.

Stockholders love the strength of the company; it annually tops lists for best-run and most profitable, customers line up days or more ahead of time for product releases and distributors, code writers and feeder industries all heap praise on the technical giant. Steve Jobs, long dead, is still revered as a Silicon Valley pioneer.

And yet.

Apple stows a quarter of a trillion dollars a year offshore on the United Kingdom’s Isle of Jersey, where Apple pays no taxes.

That little factoid makes me wonder about corporate behavior, the attack on government-paid social services and those Congressional talks about tax “reform,” a phrase known to the rest of us as tax cuts for corporations and giveaways for the wealthy. It’s a program that a new analysis from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center says will cost $7 trillion over the next 20 years, with individual taxpayers called on to provide much of the difference. The entire package is expected to cost an estimated $5.6 trillion over the next 20 years—an amount that economists say would be hard to offset through economic growth alone.'


Read more: How Apple Takes a Bite Out of All of Us by Ducking Billions in U.S. Taxes



Last Edit by Humphrey

[David Icke Bot]

‘This is really bad’: Snowden blasts Apple’s admin access security flaw

https://www.rt.com/news/411311-apple-security-password-flaw/


'NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has criticized the jaw-dropping security flaw that allows users to log in as an administrator on an Apple Mac operating on High Sierra without even entering a password.

The vulnerability, which involves simply entering ‘root’ in the login and leaving the password blank before twice hitting ‘enter’, means that those who take advantage of it can view files and change the passwords of users on the same machine.

For Snowden, the bug is a reflection of just how easy it is to be hacked, and shows exactly why people must be vigilant about resisting government efforts to weaken protections. “This is really bad, but will be fixed,” the whistleblower wrote on Twitter, before adding a warning about government agencies like the FBI pushing for “‘reasonable’ encryption.”

Earlier, Snowden had described the error as being akin to a locked door that lets you in as long as you keep trying the handle. Tech experts believe the flaw leaves computers using the High Sierra operating system open to attacks from malware.

"We always see malware trying to escalate privileges and get root access," Patrick Wardle, a security researcher with US tech firm Synack, told Wired. "This is [the] best, easiest way ever to get root, and Apple has handed it to them on a silver platter."'


Read more: ‘This is really bad’: Snowden blasts Apple’s admin access security flaw



Last Edit by Humphrey

[Richie Allen Show]

Apple Proudly Announces Global Censorship

WeAreChange
Published on Dec 5, 2017

Jason Bermas talks about the latest announcement by Tim Cook the CEO of Apple that explains how they share a common global vision of the internet. China, of course, has vast internet censorship and living with their policies would be a nightmare.











Last Edit by Gladstone

[Adolf Hitler]

Apple under fire as it admits it DOES deliberately 'smooth out' the performance of older iPhones to keep them running as their batteries age
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5200661/Is-phone-listening-word-say.html



Last Edit by Gladstone

[EvadingGrid]

Yet another Conspiracy Theory Dismissed by Experts proven Correct.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/dec/21/apple-admits-slowing-older-iphones-because-of-flagging-batteries

The confirmation will reignite the debate over “planned obsolescence”, the practice of intentionally hobbling a device after a certain period to nudge users into buying new products. Experts have long dismissed users’ complaints that their iPhones have slowed down immediately before the release of a new model.



Last Edit by Gladstone

[EvadingGrid]

The company has confirmed that the biggest conspiracy about the mobile phone is actually true
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/apple-iphones-slow-down-old-models-smartphone-speed-ios-updates-a8121906.html


Apple has admitted to intentionally slowing down iPhones as they get older, without notifying customers.

In doing so, the company has confirmed that the biggest conspiracy about the mobile phone is actually true.

However, it claims that the move is not designed to encourage customers to upgrade to newer iPhone models.  <--- JOKE ?



Last Edit by Gladstone

[EvadingGrid]

The Independent

Apple says almost all its devices are affected by the Spectre and Meltdown bugs

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/apple-bugs-intel-spectre-meltdown-all-devices-affected-latest-a8142836.html




'A pair of security vulnerabilities affect virtually all Apple products but are not currently affecting users, the company said.

Known as “Spectre” and “Meltdown,” the issues “apply to all modern processors and affect nearly all computing devices and operating systems,” Apple said in a press release. Apple Watches were not believed to be affected.

“All Mac systems and iOS devices are affected, but there are no known exploits impacting customers at this time,” the company said.

The company said it would release a patch to help guard Safari against Spectre and advised only downloading software from trustworthy sources.

The two security flaws have caused issues across the technology industry, leaving tech companies scrambling to push out fixes. Researchers have warned that they could enable hackers to steal vulnerable information.

Researchers at Google's Project Zero and academic institutions and discovered the issues last year and disclosed them this week.'

Read more: Apple says almost all its devices are affected by the Spectre and Meltdown bugs




Last Edit by Humphrey

[David Icke Bot]

motherboard.vice.com
http://www.motherboard.vice.com/



Key iPhone Source Code Gets Posted Online in 'Biggest Leak in History'
http://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/a34g9j/iphone-source-code-iboot-ios-leak





Someone just posted what experts say is the source code for a core component of the iPhone’s operating system on GitHub, which could pave the way for hackers and security researchers to find vulnerabilities in iOS and make iPhone jailbreaks easier to achieve.

The GitHub code is labeled “iBoot,” which is the part of iOS that is responsible for ensuring a trusted boot of the operating system. In other words, it’s the program that loads iOS, the very first process that runs when you turn on your iPhone. It loads and verifies the kernel is properly signed by Apple and then executes it—it’s like the iPhone’s BIOS.

The code says it’s for iOS 9, an older version of the operating system, but portions of it are likely to still be used in iOS 11.

Apple has traditionally been very reluctant to release code to the public, though it has made certain parts of iOS and MacOS open source in recent years. But it has taken particular care to keep iBoot secure and its code private; bugs in the boot process are the most valuable ones if reported to Apple through its bounty program, which values them at a max payment of $200,000.

“This is the biggest leak in history,” Jonathan Levin, the author of a series of books on iOS and Mac OSX internals, told me in an online chat, referring to Apple's history. “It’s a huge deal.”'



Read More : Key iPhone


Source   Code Gets Posted Online in 'Biggest Leak in History'


Icke




Last Edit by Gladstone

[David Icke Bot]

RT - Russia Today

Apple loses bid to ban protests by French tax campaign group at its stores
http://www.rt.com/news/419749-apple-loses-protester-court/





'Apple’s case against the tax campaign group Attac was thrown out of a Paris court on Friday. To add insult to injury, the tech giant was ordered to pay Attac’s legal fees.

"The court has recognised the legitimacy of our actions and went as far as to say we behaved in the general interest," said Attac (Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions and Citizen's Action) spokesman Raphael Pradeau, as cited by The Local. The case emanated from Attac’s sit-in protest –at Apple's flagship Paris store on December 2– at what they claimed was "massive tax evasion" by the US tech company around the world, but specifically in Europe. Spam_A Spam_B In its complaint, Apple alleged that the protest had endangered the safety of staff and customers and therefore further such protests should be banned. For context, Attac held similar sit-in protests at Apple stores in Paris and Aix-en-Provence in November, calling for the tech giant to pay back billions of euros in back taxes which, the EU claims, are owed.

Apple sought a three-year ban of Attac members from its stores, with a €150,000 fine if it was breached. The company also sought €3,000 in alleged damages from the December protests.

The Paris court dismissed Apple's claims, including that it was anticipating "imminent damage" from future protests. The court ruled that, so long as the protests remain peaceful and do not block access or prove to be a fire hazard, they may continue. Furthermore, Apple did not report any damages sustained during the December protest.'



Read More : Apple loses bid to ban protests by French tax campaign group at its stores


Icke




Last Edit by Humphrey

[David Icke Bot]

The Daily Mail

Hackers and the FBI have a new tool that will break into ANY iPhone running iOS 11, software company claims
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5439573/New-tool-lets-government-unlock-iPhone-running-iOS-11.html





'Police forces across the world can now gain access the contents of any iPhone, reports concerning a mobile forensics firm have claimed.

Cellebrite says it can unlock handsets like the iPhone X running on any version of iOS 5 or above, including the latest.

The firm is said to have developed techniques to crack iOS 11 and is advertising them to law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, as well as private companies.

Apple previously hit the headlines for refusing to help the bureau bypass the passcode on the handset of a then suspect in the 2016 San Bernardino shootings.

Anonymous sources told Forbes that the Israeli firm, based in Petah Tikva, has developed unlocking techniques for iOS 11 in the past few months. Spam_A Spam_B The firm has not made an official announcement on the issue, but marketing materials claim it can break the security of iOS devices and operating systems.

This includes 'iPhone, iPad, iPad mini, iPad Pro and iPod touch, running iOS 5 to iOS 11', according to their advertising.

Writing in the firm's sales brochure, a spokesman said: 'Technology moves fast, and Cellebrite’s commitment to world-class research ensures we keep pace with complex, new device locking and encryption methods.

'Cellebrite advanced unlocking services provide law enforcement agencies with sensitive, cutting-edge abilities directly from the Cellebrite security research labs.

'These customized services are delivered by digital forensic technology experts through a network of secure Cellebrite forensic labs located around the world.''



Read More : Hackers and the FBI have a new tool that will break into ANY iPhone running iOS 11, software company claims


Icke




Last Edit by Humphrey

[EvadingGrid]

theguardian.com
http://www.theguardian.com/



Ireland collects more than €14 billion in taxes and interest from Apple
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/18/ireland-collects-more-than-14bn-disputed-taxes-from-apple





'Ireland’s government has fully recovered more than €14bn (£12.4bn) in disputed taxes and interest from Apple, which it will hold in an escrow fund pending its appeal against a European Union tax ruling.

The European commission ruled in August 2016 that Apple had received unfair tax incentives from the Irish government. Both Apple and Dublin are appealing against the original ruling, saying the iPhone maker’s tax treatment was in line with Irish and EU law.

Ireland’s finance ministry, which began collecting the back taxes in a series of payments in May, estimated last year the total amount could have reached €15bn including EU interest. In the end the amount was €13.1bn in back taxes plus €1.2bn interest. Spam_A Spam_B While the €14.3bn would be enough to fund the country’s health service for a year, the government said it had never given any company a special deal and that the appeal was important to preserve Ireland’s attractiveness for investment.

“While the government fundamentally disagrees with the commission’s analysis and is seeking an annulment of that decision, as committed members of the European Union, we have always confirmed that we would recover the alleged state aid,” the Irish finance minister, Paschal Donohoe, said in a statement.'



Read More : Ireland collects more than €14 billion in taxes and interest from Apple


Icke




Last Edit by Humphrey

[David Icke Bot]

Apple admits giving governments access to thousands of iPhones and other devices
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/apple-iphone-ipad-government-data-privacy-transparency-report-2018-a8697761.html





Apple approved more than 25,000 government requests to access customer data in the first half of 2018, according to its own figures.

The iPhone maker’s latest Transparency Report reveals it received 32,342 demands from governments around the world to access 163,823 devices, with 80 per cent of the requests granted.

The latest figures represent a 9 per cent rise in the number of demands from the previous six-month reporting period, when 79 per cent of 23,477 requests were granted.

More than 42 per cent of all applications in the first half of this year came from German authorities – the government with the most requests.

Apple said in its report that the high volume of device requests from Germany was “predominantly due to stolen devices investigations”.

The United States also ranked highly, with 4,570 requests for 14,911 devices. The US also filed 918 financial identifier requests, which Apple said were “predominantly due to iTunes Gift Card and credit card fraud investigations”.

In the UK, Apple received 572 requests for 2,606 devices, of which 77 per cent were approved.

Apple is only able to reject a request if it is unclear, inappropriate or lacks a valid legal basis.

The firm consistently positions itself as the one technology giant that truly cares about people’s privacy, having previously criticised the likes of Facebook for exploiting customer data for profit.

Earlier this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook said his company made a conscious effort to value people’s privacy over profits.

“We could make a ton of money if we monetised our customers, if our customers were our product,” Mr Cook said in an interview with the website Recode.

“We’ve elected not to do that ... We’re not going to traffic your personal life. Privacy to us is a human right, a civil liberty.”

The firm once again laid out this commitment at the beginning of its latest transparency report, which it published on a new interactive website to make the data more accessible.'

Read more: Apple admits giving governments access to thousands of iPhones and other devices



Icke




Last Edit by Gladstone

[2Revolutions]

Finally some good news.


Tim Cook to Investors: People Bought Fewer New iPhones Because They Repaired Their Old Ones

Apple finally says that repair hurts its bottom line.

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/zmd9a5/tim-cook-to-investors-people-bought-fewer-new-iphones-because-they-repaired-their-old-ones

Wednesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote a letter to investors alerting them that the company would miss its revenue targets in part because Apple didn’t sell as many iPhones as it expected. The lengthy letter cites, specifically, that people are buying fewer iPhones because they are repairing their old ones.

Apple has long fought efforts that would make iPhones easier to repair: It has lobbied against right to repair efforts in several states, doesn’t sell iPhone replacement parts, sued an independent repair professional in Norway, worked with Amazon to get iPhone and MacBook refurbishers kicked off Amazon Marketplace, and has deals with electronics recyclers that require them to shred iPhones and MacBooks (as opposed to allowing them to be refurbished.) The Department of Homeland Security, meanwhile, has seized iPhone replacement parts from prominent right to repair activists in the United States.

At the announcement event for the iPhone XS, Apple said that keeping your old iPhone “is the best thing for the planet,” but the fact remains that selling new iPhones is best for Apple’s bottom line. That’s why many people suspected that “throttle gate,” in which Apple was caught slowing down iPhones with old batteries, was a ploy to sell more iPhones (the phones were slowing down to prevent them from shutting off, but Apple never disclosed this to the user.) Though there’s no evidence that Apple has a business model based on planned obsolescence, the company attempted to downplay the fact that it was slowing down people’s old phones without telling them, which had the side effect of helping the company to sell more phones.

After widespread public outrage, Apple eventually offered to replace people’s old iPhone batteries for $29, which would end throttling and make older phones run faster. That program ended on December 31.

Apple has never clearly articulated why it doesn’t want people to fix their own iPhones or to have independent experts repair them. It has previously said that iPhones are “too complex” for users to repair them, even though replacing a battery is pretty easy and is done by average users all the time.

But the fact that repair hurts Apple’s bottom line came out in Cook’s official communication with shareholders, who he is legally obligated to tell the truth to.

More at the link --->  https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/zmd9a5/tim-cook-to-investors-people-bought-fewer-new-iphones-because-they-repaired-their-old-ones



Last Edit by Gladstone

[David Icke Bot]

The Independent

Major Apple bug allows caller to snoop on iPhone audio and video without recipient's knowledge
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/facetime-bug-apple-audio-hear-video-iphone-ios-12-latest-fix-a8751471.html


'Apple has admitted there is a bug that lets callers see and hear video and audio from a recipient's iPhone - even if they haven't actually picked up the phone.

The flaw was identified by a tech blog which found that, in some cases, callers using the group chat function on FaceTime would be able to access a recipient's microphone and camera without their knowledge.

It enables callers to briefly eavesdrop on whatever the recipient is doing, until the call rings out. According to the blog 9to5Mac, pressing certain buttons while the call was incoming would then make the phone also share video. News of the bug emerged, coincidentally, on "National Privacy Day" in the US, and users were quick to take to social media to express their concerns.

Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey suggested people "disable FaceTime for now until Apple fixes".

Apple said in a statement that: "We're aware of this issue and we have identified a fix that will be released in a software update later this week."

But in the meantime, the company appears to have taken down the FaceTime group chat feature altogether. Apple's "system status" page showed all its services were operational except for an issue with the video calling servers. "Group FaceTime is temporarily unavailable", a message read.

Apple announced the group video chat feature last summer, but then removed it from early test versions of its iOS 12 operating system. Apple released the feature to the public in iOS 12.1 in late October.'



Source   - Independent


Icke




Last Edit by Gladstone

[2Revolutions]

The Independent

Major Apple bug FEATURE allows caller to snoop on iPhone audio and video without recipient's knowledge
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/facetime-bug-apple-audio-hear-video-iphone-ios-12-latest-fix-a8751471.html

Last Edit by Gladstone

[David Icke Bot]

SAY WHAT??! Apple’s FaceTime Bug Was NOT A Mistake! Documents Reveal Spying PATENT!












Icke




Last Edit by Gladstone

[David Icke Bot]

theguardian.com
http://www.theguardian.com/



Apple store opponents crowdfund to 'buy' Federation Square building set for demolition
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/10/apple-store-opponents-crowdfund-to-buy-federation-square-building-set-for-demolition


'Opponents of a plan to build an Apple store in Melbourne’s Federation Square have started a crowdfunding campaign to raise $40m to buy the Yarra Building to protect it from demolition.

The fundraising stunt – which comes with a promise from organisers that they will never call in the pledges made by supporters – comes as Heritage Victoria is preparing to consider a development application by the Federation Square authority.

The Victorian government announced its approval of the plan to build a flagship Apple store in Federation Square in December 2017. The plan, which requires the demolition of the Yarra Building, was met with considerable community opposition, including opposition from Melbourne City Council.

Heritage Victoria has received more than 2,000 submissions, mostly opposing the proposal, since the application for demolition and redevelopment was opened for public comment two weeks ago.

Submissions close on Wednesday, the day before Heritage Council Victoria, the independent body which determines whether buildings will be listed on the Victorian Heritage Register, is due to hold a directions hearing on whether to list Federation Square. The full hearing is scheduled for April.'



Read More : Apple store opponents crowdfund to 'buy' Federation Square building set for demolition


Icke




Last Edit by Gladstone