No it's not! I can run whatever software I want on Windows, Mac, Android and Chromium.

> these are proprietary, private sector companies who fiduciary responsibilities to their shareholders, not government entities.

I am not accusing Apple of literally breaking the first amendment. I do, however, think their actions have consequences for our society and democracy.

Imagine if side-loading books onto a Kindle was impossible, and Amazon implemented an App Store-style review process for everything sold on the Kindle store. Would you consider that a threat to free speech?

Well, consider what happened when someone made an iOS game about Apple factory workers in Foxconn: Apple killed it [1].

Now, it is absolutely Apple's prerogative to determine what is allowed on their storefront, just as any retailer can decide what to stock on its shelves. However, by completely blocking any form of side-loading, Apple is making decisions about what type of content their users are allowed to see on their devices. That's a problem if the iPhone is someone's primary computer, and perhaps their only computer.

[1] https://kotaku.com/there-was-an-iphone-game-about-foxconn-un...

Just as you can on Safari!

Web applications can't do peer to peer networking, period. Nor can they interact with arbitrary hardware devices you decide to connect.

Companies; S,C, LLC. They did not exist, and by request they were willed into 'personhood' at the signing of a government pen. They were not required to approve the incorporation request. So, I ask this:

Why do we not enforce incorporated entities to also abide by the Bill of Rights as being extensions of the government?

They certainly weren't born, and there's no corporate death penalty. So it tells me they're an extension of government, as they were willed into being with their explicit consent.

because they are extensions of the private citizens that own them

your extension is accomplished when government entities under the US Constitution are significant funders or owners of these entities

Barns & Noble should be able to decide what types of books to put on their selves. Hacker News's moderators should be able to make decisions about what types of content lead to intellectual curiosity. And while I strongly believe all software platforms should allow sideloading, I also think Apple's curated, "safe" App Store is a great (optional) service for consumers who want it.