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Some Ado About U.S. Army Sites Banning iTunes

Tuesday, November 6th, 2007 at 5:05 PM - by

There have been some discussions on Apple's fed-talk listserver recently about some U.S. Army sites banning iTunes. Some users think it may be based on the iTunes license agreement that allows Apple to monitor systems. One Army official has noted that iTunes has been banned at his site simply because it engaged in "Streaming Media."

From time to time, the DOD looks into the nature of various protocols and makes assessments regarding the security of its systems. In general, a master list of approved applications is generated by the Army, and iTunes is on it along with QuickTime. At local sites a standarized disk image is rolled out to all users who generally do not have administrator access. That local list is managed by the site commander, so there can be some variation.

Some members of the fed-talk list have pointed out that podcasts are used to deliver content to troops and that the Windows Media Player is not similarly banned. Others on the list also pointed out that the iTunes license extends only to purchase verification and not intrusion into the file system. In any case, the apparent variation in policy from site to site is causing a stir.

The Apple mailing list server is open to the public and requires readers to register and subscribe.

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Wed Nov 07, 2007 1:40 am

iTunes is also banned at Ramstein AB in Germany. Same reason, "Streaming media." Quicktime cannot be installed either.

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Steve Ballmer said:

member since 11 May 1978 with 41765 posts, Guest, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Nov 07, 2007 10:44 am

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Damn, I'm annoying.

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