Chinese Military Circumvent App Store by Releasing App Requiring Jailbreak
It isn’t a secret that the Chinese government likes to be in control, particularly when it comes to technology and how it is used by its citizens. Knowing this, it makes perfect sense that there would be a power struggle when it comes to the App Store.
So what do they do? The Ministry of National Defense of the People’s Republic of China releases PLA Daily, a news-reader style app designed for use by the People’s Liberation Army of China (PLA) with the expectation that users will jailbreak their devices so that they can install the unofficial app.
This may seem a little unexpected on the heels of news reports indicating China is the second largest Apple app market second only to the U.S.
Some speculation says that the app was first submitted to the app store only to be rejected, which wasn’t a result they were willing to accept. Whether there is truth to this rumor or not remains to be seen.
Jailbreaking is a fairly common practice engaging one method or another to hack into your device in an effort to gain freedom from Apple’s well known and locked-down policies. With this said, jailbreaking will void your warranty, make you more vulnerable to security concerns and may just turn your device into a very expensive paperweight.
This isn’t the only problem Apple is having in China these days. Counterfeit Apple stores selling unauthorized merchandise were discovered in China last month, prompting the Chinese government to swoop in and shut them down.
Apple isn’t the only company who has had to contend with a strong-arming Chinese government. You may recall that Google has had their fair share of difficulty over the last long while trying to deal with censorship, hacking and spying.
Do you think this behavior is reasonable? Should Apple have any recourse for pursuing legal action against the Chinese government for this kind of blatant disregard of their policies?
[via 9to5Mac]
