Could they? Yes, probably. So could the network providers (which would be more likely and easier). Would they? Ehhh, I feel more likely would be the government trying to mandate surveillance of communications rather than blocking them.
I don't think any company would want to be that overt about trying frankly. While the west is largely not primed for a revolution at this moment, in a hypothetical revoluton I don't think companies would make an overt position like that. It's not like companies would be dismantled overnight normally, they would want to keep existing.
I think you'd be more likely to see the state step in and do things like disable Internet traffic if they want to disable large scale communication as we've seen other states do in the past.
I'm saying whatever the state is would. Its why behind the scene the state is always working overtime to secure its communication networks. If you develop something like tor, you're watched like a hawk. Tor isn't the network. But it provides some tools for anonymity.
I remember an interview with one of its devs who said they were constantly stopped at borders and flights and inspect. Any devices they had were taken in the back and returned.
At one point the dev was put on a no fly list. All attributed to building better anonymity tools.
Apple and any other company do not matter. Its not like these devices are ham radios
This wasn't the dev I remember since it was a male. But here's another example of it happening
https://www.fastcompany.com/4007583/fbi-has-been-stalking-this-tor-developer-and-no-one-knows-why
Personally, I think massive surveillance by the government is a much better option for them. Apple could cooperate with this (they already do in PRISM, maybe they could hand over data) but this would be much more effective than shutdowns.
Communicate and give away your secrets, comrades, and we’ll be watching, always watching… :fbi-posting:
There exist apps to create resilient communication networks over Bluetooth. But that requires that a lot of people have them prior to the network going down.
Thesis: Communism is when no iphone.
Antithesis: Communists are all hypocrites because they use phones
Synthesis: Google is communist
They could make things more difficult by shutting down Apple services unless you’re on a brand new totally not malware update similar to how they did a shutdown with iOS 11.
They could try to deploy malware with known vulnerabilities if people block updates.
They’d have to be really compelled though, because it would severely damage their reputation and they do like their billions rolling in
Would it?
If Russia did another communist revolution, Apple probably would face more damage in doing anything overtly than they’d gain from just silently participating in PRISM and doing nothing at all.
There’s no way a communist revolution would work in the USA right now so you’re going to need more context in this hypothetical world where a communist revolution has a chance of succeeding.
I wish it were possible to believe otherwise, but history doesn’t seem to support that belief.
Regardless, say that a communist revolution was happening in the USA. Would Apple sabbotage the iphones?
Would depend on whether it would be in their interests to do so IMHO
You could make the case either way
how so? why wouldn't a trillionarie monopoly fuck up a communist revolution in their turf?