Re:Facebook has been paying people to install a “Research” VPN
by morpheuskafka on Wednesday January 30, 2019 @10:46AM
(#19035984)
That would be getting into serious fraud, arguably criminal under CFAA. Normally Apple isn't interested in prosecuting these people as its just sideloading, which is some minor copyright violations and a security risk in their view, but if Facebook did it after having been banned themselves, having a written statement from Apple that these apps were violating, and then they go and pay a third party or deliberately make a shell company to defraud Apple? That could provoke a total business embargo between the companies which would suffocate FB.
It's my understanding that faking these business identities is the entire business model of iOS sideloaded services (see the subreddit for examples [0]) so I don't think it's that difficult to do. That said, I'd be shocked if Apple let them go that far as to keep spinning out fake businesses but then again if FB thinks it can get away with it what's stopping them?
[0] https://www.reddit.com/r/sideloaded/