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by xg15 930 days ago
> When making an IDS registration request, a binary blob called “validation data” is required. This is essentially Apple’s verification mechanism to make sure that non-Apple devices cannot use iMessage.

I wonder, will this be in violation of the EU's DSA and/or DMA once they are in force?
2 comments
Longhanks 930 days ago
DSA and DMA do not magically grant you the permission to do whatever you want with Apple's servers, nor force they Apple into having to serve any particular valid response to the requests you make.

In whatever way Apple is going to comply with DSA and DMA, this ain't it.

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xg15 930 days ago
I don't know the legal text, but improving interop specifically between messaging services seems to be a goal of the DMA, according to the EU parliament [1]:

> Interoperability between messaging platforms will improve - users of small or big platforms will be able to exchange messages, send files or make video calls across messaging apps.

Lock-in mechanisms like the above would at least run counter to that goal.

I also think that enforcing device restrictions on a messaging service is more problematic than on some random API: Messengers are subject to the network effect and usually you can't freely choose which messenger you want to use - it depends on which one the people you want to talk with are on.

In an extreme case, some person or business could choose to exclusively communicate using iMessage. Then you'd have to buy an iPhone just to be able to reach them. This seems like exactly the kind of interop problem the EU is concerned about.

[1] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/202...

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turquoisevar 930 days ago
European regulations work on a policy level not on a technical level.

In other words, Apple having technical limitations isn’t illegal per se, Apple refusing to facilitate interoperability might be illegal (although future RCS adoption will meet the requirements).

The above assumes that iMessage meets the regulations threshold, which it currently doesn’t according to Apple based on user numbers, but that’s a different debate.

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cqqxo4zV46cp 930 days ago
Especially now that iOS is getting RCS. First-party cross-platform iMessage is nothing more than a nerd’s pipe-dream.

And I’m completely fine with that.

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