Ok, I'm sorry but this comment and this thread is just all over the place.

Beeper wasn’t doing MiTM attacks. They weren’t hijacking messages.

That we know of. Oh, and they're literally a man in the middle, someone the user shouldn't expect is in between the data they're sending. okay, I'll give you the middle is squishy here because it's really when it's decrypted on the client, but still...

They functioned and behaved as a legitimate end point.

Which, they weren't. They were spoofing credentials and accessing a system without authorization from the system owner. It doesn't matter if Apple left a hole in the system. Hell, they could have set the password to be '12345' it's still probably a crime, at least, based on this list of crimes:

having knowingly accessed a computer without authorization or exceeding authorized access

The whole thing basically reiterates over and over that just because you technically have access, that doesn't mean you are permitted.

While I agree Apple should have some control over their network.

Okay, makes sense.

Which they clearly don’t in any way that matters.

How many iMessage breaches has Apple had?

The controll they’re exerting shouldn’t be allowed.

The "control" is discovering that someone else made a copy of the key to their locks. If i told you that I now have a copy of the key to your house (but trust me bro I'm only going to use it like you would which means using your shit and and selling your food to others) oh and that now basically anyone has a copy to the key to your house, would you change the locks?

As long as beeper were behaving, which they were.

Which they were?! They literally are using fake credentials, accessing a system without authorization, using the infrastructure including the real costs of said infrastructure.

Secure messages are sent and received from all manner of platforms regularly without issue. No Apple required

Welp, you've just provided the closing arguments for Apple's lawyers and any sort of monopoly concern.