Stop iTunes connecting to the iTunes Store on application launch
Hello all,
I responded to an existing thread (most recent post) which contains my below issue but as I have had no response I am logging this as a fresh thread due to multiple people experiencing the same operation and as this point a complete lack of ownership from an Apple perspective.
THE ISSUE
Upon iTunes (seems v10 +) application launch it "phones home" to the iTunes store, requiring authentication against upstream proxies etc.
WHY IS IT AN ISSUE?
Becuase it cannot be disabled and many corporate businesses restrict / monitor access to high bandwidth consuming resources. At every iTunes launch it attempts to connect to the store even if no iTunes Store account has been configured. For those users restricted (at a network level) from accessing the iTunes store, this is completely pointless and annoying. That being said, if checking the "Remember Password" checkbox actually did anything the issue would be negated; fact is that this checkbox does nothing and each launch users must enter their full credentials. Happy to provide a screen recording of this in operation.
MY ENVIRONMENT BACKGROUND
I'm experiencing this issue with build 10.6.3.25 on Windows 7 x64 and Windows XP x86 clients inside a Windows Active Directory Domain.
From a corporate environment perspective, the vast majority of internet access is monitored and in many cases restricted from a bandwidth cost saving and productivity point of view. A lot of users in our environment use iTunes to manage their iOS devices but do not have a valid business purpose for accessing the iTunes store via the corporate network; thus they are restricted access.
PROOF IT ISN'T JUST ME RANTING
Please see the below URLs for other people who experience the same issue as me:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3803634?start=0&tstart=0
SIMPLE SOLUTION
Add a configuration item to the Parental Controls or similar which allows the 'connect to iTunes Store at launch' setting to be controlled by administrators & parents.
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Thanks in advance to anyone able to offer a workaround or assistance towards resolving this rather simple yet annoying end user operation with iTunes. Please note, I have seen the workaround which suggests saving proxy credentials in a plain text password file on the local machine; this is not a corporate environment solution and I will not gain approval to implement such.
Lucidite.
iTunes-OTHER, Windows 7
