iPhone or advertising torture device?

Apple is raising fears — and, some say, ruining its brand — with a controversial new "enforcement routine" patent

Setting the tech world abuzz, Apple has filed a patent that would let consumers buy its products on a low- or no-cost monthly plan — as long as buyers sign up for an operating system requiring them to interact with ads. The proposed "enforcement routine" technology would freeze users' iPhones or computers if they fail to click a button or answer a test question to prove they've obediently heeded the advertising. Rotten idea?

"Enforcement" will alienate Mac fans: Everything about this technology seems so "antithetical" to Apple's user-friendly philosophy, says Randall Stross at The New York Times' Digital Domain blog, that it's hard to believe co-founder Steve Jobs even knew about it. Yet, there's his name, listed first on the patent.

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