> OK but what does this have to do with the original point? There are plenty of reasons why Apple might want to prevent pirated app stores from being used on th

> OK but what does this have to do with the original point? There are plenty of reasons why Apple might want to prevent pirated app stores from being used on their devices: legal, ethical and sure, financial. That was my whole point: once sold, those phones are no longer Apple's devices. Apple has absolutely no legitimate say in what the new owners choose to do with those phones. Nor does Apple have any legal or ethical exposure to what the new owners do with their phones: that is the owners' liability. Now, the owners may wish to enter an arrangement with Apple, and Apple may only choose to enter into that arrangement if the owners do certain things or refrain from doing certain things. That's completely fair. What's not fair is 'selling' someone a device, but retaining ownership of it. That's not a sale; it's a lease.