Apple to shut down Corellium for making and selling perfect replicas of iOS
Apple Inc. has filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of Floridaย against Corellium, a mobile device virtualization company for selling virtual versions of Apple’s operating system, iOS, within a web browserย to customers so that they can test them for security vulnerabilities.
For those unaware, iOS is the operating system that powers many of Appleโs mobile devices, including theย iPhone,ย iPad, andย iPod Touch. On the other hand, Corellium provides services as a mobile device virtualization solution to help security researchers determine vulnerabilities in iOS.
According to Apple, Corellium’s iOS virtualization product infringes on Apple’s copyrights.
“Corellium has simply copied everything: the code, the graphical user interface, the icons — all of it, in exacting detail,โ Apple said in the complaint who is looking to shut down Corelliumโs virtual iPhone.
โCorellium’s business is based entirely on commercializing the illegal replication of the copyrighted operating system and applications that run on Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and other Apple devices. The product Corellium offers is a โvirtualโ version of Apple mobile hardware products, accessible to anyone with a web bro
โSpecifically,Corellium serves up what it touts as a perfect digital facsimile of a broad range of Apple’s market-leading devices–recreating with fastidious attention to detail not just the way the operating system and applications appear visually to bona fide purchasers, but also the underlying computer code. Corellium does so with no license or permission from Apple.โ
The Cupertino-based tech firm said that while it encourages benevolent “white hat” hacking, Corellium is insteadย selling information to people purely for the goal of generating a profit.
โAlthough Corellium paints itself as providing a research tool for those trying to discover security vulnerabilities and other flaws in Appleโs software, Corelliumโs true goal is profiting off its blatant infringement,โ the suit noted.
โThere is no basis for Corellium to be selling a product that allows the creation of avowedly perfect replicas of Appleโs devices to anyone willing to pay.
Apple noted in its suit that it supports “good-faith security research” by offering a $1 million โbug bountyโ for anyone who discovers flaws in its system.ย However, Corellium is marketing its product for more immoral purposes, alleged Apple.
โCorellium makes no effort whatsoever to confine use of its product to good-faith research and testing of iOS. Nor does Corellium require its users to disclose any software bugs they find to Apple, so that Apple may correct them.
โInstead, Corellium is selling a product for profit, using unauthorized copies of Appleโs proprietary software, that it avowedly intends to be used for any purpose, without limitation, including for the sale of software exploits on the open market.
โFar from assisting in fixing vulnerabilities, Corellium encourages its users to sell any discovered information on the open market to the highest bidder.โ
Apple added that it does not want to obstruct โgood-faith security researchโ but wants to end Corellium’s โunlawful commercialization of Apple’s valuable copyrighted works.โ
As a result, Apple has demandedย a jury trial for, “a straightforward case of infringement of highly valuable copyrighted works.”
Apple is seeking a permanent injunction against Corellium that would stop the firm from creating replicas of its iOS. Besides blocking sales of the Corellium Apple Product, the tech giant also wants a court order forcing Corellium to notify customers that they are in violation of Appleโs rights. In addition, the company is also seeking damages in the form of attorney fees and lost profit.