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Apple Capitulates, Removes Unlicensed VPN Apps From China App Store

posted by Fnord666 on Monday July 31 2017, @08:41AM   Printer-friendly
from the sideloading-anyone? dept.

takyon writes:

Apple has removed major VPN apps from its mainland China app store:

China appears to have received help on Saturday from an unlikely source in its fight against tools that help users evade its Great Firewall of internet censorship: Apple. Software made by foreign companies to help users skirt the country's system of internet filters has vanished from Apple's app store on the mainland.

One company, ExpressVPN, posted a letter it had received from Apple saying that its app had been taken down "because it includes content that is illegal in China." Another tweeted from its official account that its app had been removed.

[...] In a statement, Apple noted that the Chinese government announced this year that all developers offering VPNs needed to obtain a government license. "We have been required to remove some VPN apps in China that do not meet the new regulations," the company said. "These apps remain available in all other markets where they do business."

Also at TechCrunch, CNET, Newsweek, and TorrentFreak.

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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 31 2017, @09:41AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 31 2017, @09:41AM (#547067)

    It works great against mostly free Western governments who really don't care.

    That's why they conduct mass surveillance on the populace and use techniques such as parallel construction once they have singled out their targets: Because they don't care! That's also why they often attack activists (like with the letter the FBI sent to MLK trying to get him to commit suicide) and whistleblowers. They just don't care.

    I don't know why you have such a hard-on for bashing VPNs and such, especially since they're useful for more than just hiding from governments.

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  • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday July 31 2017, @12:04PM

    by kaszz (4211) on Monday July 31 2017, @12:04PM (#547103) Journal

    letter the FBI sent to MLK trying to get him to commit suicide

    Seems they succeeded with Aaron Swartz (1986 – 2013) ?