Companies develop idiosyncratic cultures and either learn to live with them or die. Apple's learned to live with a legal culture deathly afraid of the GPLv3. So

Companies develop idiosyncratic cultures and either learn to live with them or die. Apple's learned to live with a legal culture deathly afraid of the GPLv3. Some influential director or someone made a decision 20 years ago and the GPLv3 superstition became self perpetuating, reality be damned. Outside incentives never became strong enough to override it. Every company has its stupid superstitions.