iPhone + GPS = a military prerogative?

Who would have thought it. Apple seeks to introduce the iphone into Egypt only to find that the GPS which goes with the phone is considered by the authorities as a military prerogative.

What confronted Apple is reflective of an issue where technology, and its use by the populace, doesn't sit tidily alongside with what a regime or Government is prepared to tolerate.

The NY Times reports in "The Freedoms That Technologies Help Bring" on the iphone "situation" in Egypt :

"But thus far, each time technology has promised to help introduce democracy to the country, the young peoples’ hopes have been dashed. A movement for political reform that used Facebook to organize protests over the spring was shut down. The authorities cracked down, jailing many of its organizers. In the last few weeks, a blogger affiliated with the radical group Muslim Brotherhood was arrested for his writings, according to the Arabic Network for Human Rights. Another blogger is being held in a military camp, the group says.

It is enough to make one ask if new technologies — the personal computer, the World Wide Web, the all-powerful smartphone — will help set us free or merely give us that illusion."

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