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No one denies that Apple’s been a little control-freaky about the iPhone and iPod Touch; they control the means of distribution for music, photos, video and applications. Furthermore, if they determine that an application is malicious, they can disable it using a “kill switch” embedded in each iPhone/iPod touch sold.

So why not use that technology to kill stolen iPhones?

The Globe and Mail explains:

Apple chief executive officer Steve Jobs has since revealed that the company maintains an internal “kill switch” which can shut down and erase any application, both in the company’s online store and on every user’s iPhone, if the software is deemed to be harmful or malicious. If the company can kill an application, some argue it should be able to do the same for an iPod.

However, some analysts say that with more than 100 million iPods sold since the device first came on the market in 2001, it may be too costly and time-consuming for the company to track stolen devices.

The company could also be opening itself up to liability or privacy concerns if it were, for example, to shut down a legitimate iPod by mistake.

There are, of course, programs like Lo-Jack for Laptops that offer theft protection/tracking of your laptop. Is there a market for iPhones? The device is insanely popular, and while not as expensive as a laptop, $250 for an 8GB iPod touch is nothing to sneeze at (to say nothing of your personal data). But the real benefit of bringing Apple into this is that, unlike software, the serial number would be much more difficult to obscure.

Should Apple offer this as a service? Or spin it off on another company?

Via [the Globe and Mail]

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