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by hop 5593 days ago
You can't just get them from JAE, you have to license the male plug thru Apple and it's a big process. And Apple lets no one but Apple use the female 30 pin plug.
1 comments

License under what legal theory? It doesn't seem like a fairly ordinary plug would meet the standards for either patent or copyright.
I don't know, but there is a reason no other manufacturers use it. And its a massive legal and due diligence process to get into the Made for iPod program which gives you all the specs and supplies the connectors, along with charging royalties.

http://developer.apple.com/programs/mfi