[MattTuck]

I've been a casual observer of the free and open software movement for a number of years. At some point, I think this becomes a related question.

You buy a piece of hardware and there is a legal question about whether you control what happens on that piece of hardware, or even if you have a right to know. If we view apple as a paternalistic force, their actions could be described as "working to protect the hardware against inevitable degradation". On the other hand, if I view it as a property rights issue, namely that if I paid for the phone, and I want it to run at a speed that was advertised, I should have that ability -- even if it is detrimental to the battery life and the phone itself.

Transparency, disclosure, and opt-in are probably most of the solution. Hiding this kind of thing from consumers is not really in the spirit of competition. And that goes for Apple, Android, Samsung, .... whoever.

There is an interesting case out there about seeking public access to the computer code used in DNA sequencing machines. Namely, that if citizens/consumers cannot audit the code, how can we trust that it is doing what it says it is doing.

Interesting times.