Aron Ahmadia's Place on the Web

Dear Free Software Foundation Directors,

Recently I’ve become aware of your Denial of Service attack against Apple Computer, consisting of harassing Geniuses and denying technical support to Apple consumers.

I am by no means a fan of Apple’s restrictive licensing schemes, but this is a decision that should be made by educating consumers and getting them on your side, not enraging them with immature stunts.

I will not consider donating to the FSF again unless the campaign is stopped and an apology made.

Thank you for you time and all of your hard work protecting free software.

Best Wishes,
~Aron Ahmadia

Update: Here is the FSF reply.

Thank you for taking the time to write to us with your concerns. We
don’t know or pretend to know all of the answers about what needs to
be done to promote and defend free software and work against DRM —
We depend on our supporters writing to us with ideas, kudos and
criticism.

We also depend on your advocacy. Just this year, that advocacy on
behalf of free software has helped organize people around the world
against Microsoft’s OOXML format, promoted patent- and DRM-free
audio and video formats, increased both technical and vendor support
for free BIOS, and helped move forward important conversations about
what free software means in a world of network services.

In this vein, the Defective By Design iPhone Challenge was a success
in opening the public conversation about the DRM restrictions Apple
is imposing on the iPhone mobile computing platform. We’ve now
published a second article detailing further the extremes Apple is
going to in order to enforce DRM and block free software on these
computers. I hope you’ll read it at
,
and understand why we are taking this threat so seriously.

During the two-day-long Challenge, we encouraged Defective by Design
activists to make appointments at their local Apple Store Genius
Bars to ask a series of questions about DRM. Our goal with this
action was to communicate a coordinated message to Apple, using the
communications channels that Apple invites people with concerns and
questions about their products to use.

This was not a “denial of service attack”, as it was spun to be on
Slashdot (by a blogger using the story in an attempt to leverage an
entirely unrelated and incorrect pet criticism of the FSF’s work on
network services). Nor was it harassment of Apple staff. Our
instructions for the action emphasized being polite and
constructive. We reminded everyone to be firm but leave if asked to
leave and to stay conscious of the fact that anything they said or
did would reflect on the campaign as a whole. We have received no
reports that anyone acted to the contrary.

Genius Bar staff are Apple customer service representatives, with
technical knowledge and skills. Making an appointment to speak with
them was no more harassment than sending an e-mail to Apple would be
harassment. As past, current, and potential Apple customers, it was
appropriate and effective for us to ask questions about DRM in
unison, of people who have some technical knowledge. The importance
of having some technical familiarity on the other end hit me again
yesterday, when I called the general Apple customer service line to
ask a question about their FairPlay system. “What’s FairPlay?” was
the answer I received. And no, I am not making that up. Speaking to
the Geniuses was an effective way to make sure the specific
questions were raised in a way that could be passed on up through
the management chain with a minimum of distortion.

As for inconveniencing Apple customers, any method of contacting
Apple will occupy some Apple staff time. It’s very unfortunate that
Apple does not provide sufficient resources to handle the problems
their treatment of people creates, but it would be a mistake to
allow that to prevent us from speaking up against that treatment. I
can also tell you from my firsthand experience inside and outside
Apple Stores talking about concerns with DRM that Apple customers do
support what we are doing. Once they hear more information about DRM
they are happy that someone is speaking up and doing something about
it. That’s how this campaign got so strong in the first place.

Apple is no friend of free software, and they have clearly
flip-flopped from speaking out against DRM to again being fully in
favor of it. They take advantage of free software when it suits them
but then implement restrictions to try and prevent others from doing
the same. I hope you will join us in continuing to let them know
that these moves are unacceptable. Companies like Apple are set up
to deflect and channel criticism. If we don’t use the tools we have
— our voices, our dollars, and our ability to organize with each
other — nothing will ever get changed.

—
John Sullivan
Manager of Operations