Peon's Place

Will it be Apple approved?

If you’ve been one of the many clamoring to see Firefox running on an iPhone, you may get your chance–of sorts.

Back in late May, Mozilla announced that it would be creating an iPhone version of its Firefox browser. On Wednesday, Mozilla submitted its Firefox Home iPhone app to Apple for testing–and, they hope, for approval.

The free Firefox Home relies on Firefox Sync, a cloud-based syncing technology that promises to securely sync your desktop bookmarks, history, and open tabs across Firefox browsers on desktops, mobile phones, and tablets.

On the coding end, Firefox Home is based on WebKit, the same technology that powers the default Safari browser. Thanks to that, there’s a good chance that Apple won’t reject the app as competing browser software, as the company has (in)famously done with other full HTML browser attempts in the past. In addition, while Firefox Home will let you view your recent sites directly from the app via a WebKit viewer, the Web pages will also open in the Safari browser.

Apart from delivering Web pages, Firefox Home will also share links via e-mail.

An official court document that details the first class action lawsuits that Apple and AT&T will be dealing with in regards to the iPhone 4. Some of the claims made in the Maryland based suit include:

• General Negligence (APPLE and AT&T)
• Defect in Design, Manufacture, and Assembly (APPLE)
• Breach of Express Warranty (APPLE)
• Breach of Implied Warranty for Merchantability (APPLE and AT&T)
• Breach of Implied Warranty of Fitness for a Particular Purpose (APPLE and AT&T)
• Deceptive Trade Practices (APPLE and AT&T)
• Intentional Misrepresentation (APPLE and AT&T)
• Negligent Misrepresentation (APPLE and AT&T), Fraud by Concealment (APPLE and AT&T)

A copy of the complains can be found here.

Thanks to a new law that comes into effect today, every single citizen of Finland now has a legal right to a wired broadband connection with a minimum speed of 1Mbps. According to communication minister Suvi Linden, the reason for the law is due to the fact that “internet services are no longer just for entertainment” and that it is a necessary to have to live in their “information society.”

In Finland, all but 4% of households currently have broadband connections. This, says the government, equates to about 4,000 households, all of which should be compliant with the new law in short order.

The British government has agreed to provide everyone with a minimum 2Mbps broadband connection by 2012 but it is a commitment rather than a legally binding ruling. ”The UK has a universal service obligation which means virtually all communities will have broadband,” said a spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Making broadband a legal right could have implications for countries that plan tough action on illegal file-sharing. Both the UK and France have said they may cut off or limit the internet connections of people who persistently download music or films for free. The Finnish government has adopted a more gentle approach. ”We will have a policy where operators will send letters to illegal file-sharers but we are not planning on cutting off access,” said Ms Linden.

A poll conducted for the BBC World Service earlier this year found that almost four in five people around the world believed that access to the internet is a fundamental right.