Apple Thoughts: Is Apple Shutting FaceTime Off in the UAE

"At the end of the first day of iPhone 4 officially going on sale in the United Arab Emirates, it seems like the update of iOS to 4.1 is what is disabling FaceTime on iPhones in the country."

Apple has also removed any reference to FaceTime on their iPhone website in the Middle East. Users who don't update to iOS 4.1 apparently still have a working version of FaceTime on their phones. It's fairly obvious that the UAE requested Apple remove the feature, probably for religious reasons, and that Apple complied with local law. Some users in the UAE report that FaceTime was a big reason they bought the iPhone 4 in the first place, but I don't really see how Apple could have dealt with this situation differently. If they want to do business worldwide, they have to comply with local laws.