Funny coming from the guy posting anonymously! :) Hope you turned on location services so we can find you!!

Yes, my capitalist pseudoargument is a bullshit because you disagree with it. It *IS* an argument, you just don't like it and perhaps you think everyone should do things exactly as you wish simply because you think it's important. You might also think that every product should have lots of laws governing how they are made and those companies should have legislation that manages everything they do.

Whatever - if you don't like it don't buy it.

You completely missed my point... if you don't want to have these things don't use it. Nobody is forcing people to use this phone just like nobody is forcing them to use Facebook. These companies, which are companies, sell you a service in which you pay a monthly fee to continue service. Who cares if it's retroactive? It's a service and service and privacy agreements get updated *all the time*. You pay for that service.

If AT&T tomorrow doubled its rates I would probably dump AT&T and sell my phone. Likewise, if you don't like the change, dump the phone and move on. I'm not trying to be a douche, but what promise was made to you or anybody else that these things would never change? Their previous agreement allowed them the ability to legally update it. I understand being upset but I was responding to opt-in and opt-out, and it's pretty simple - your dollars are your vote for you and how serious you are.

The last thing I want to see is a bunch of people up in arms saying we need laws to prevent this. I call BS on that. Nobody is forcing you to have a smartphone. Nobody is forcing you to use location services. And certainly, nobody is forcing you to have an iPhone. It's simple, and while that may sound brutal, that's the benefit of your ability to choose.

Also I disagree with your "rendering their devices useless" point. C'mon - not using location based services doesn't render the phone useless.

I don't believe this has anything to do with iPhone 4 - it's iOS, which you run jailbroken or not. I'm not baiting you here but why do you care about an anonymous account of your location?

Actually, there's an easy way to not agree and to opt-out and opt-in...

Don't buy the phone if this bothers you. That's the opt-out. Apple makes the phone and they have every right to do this. You, as the consumer, have every right not to buy that phone if you disagree with this. Nobody is forcing you. Could Apple make it more like Google (assuming Cory Doctorow is right)? Sure, but they chose not to. So consumers have to make an opt-in/opt-out decision: buy Apple or not.

My point is that we act like Apple is oppressing people with these policies. People either care or they don't. I don't care.