Will the People Win & Get iPhone Unlocked?
10.09.07 - 03:28pm
The first iPhone update muted almost all previous hacked iPhone third party applications and turned unlocked iPhones into iBricks, with alarming alacrity. The people however are fighting back, or at least Timothy Smith is, and he has filed a lawsuit that if won would have big repercussions for not only Apple, AT&T and the iPhone, but also for the way the cell phone world works in general.
Currently carriers are allowed to lock phones so they can only be used on one carriers network, Smith’s lawsuit claims this practice violates California’s ani-trust laws. If his suit wins it could mean that all carriers would no longer be able to lock any phone, anywhere, anytime.
The lawsuit states: “Apple issued a software update that “bricked” or otherwise caused iPhone malfunctions for consumers who unlocked their phones and installed the update.”
“Under an exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act 1998, consumers can lawfully modify their phones for use on a cellphone network of their choice. Apple ignored the exemption in disregard of consumers’ rights.”
The suit wants the court to grant an injunction to prevent Apple from selling a locked iPhone. It is also asking for Apple to be held to the warranty even if an iPhone was unlocked or had a third party application downloaded. Presently Apple will not allow any “tampered” phones to be held under warranty. So a brick, is a brick, is a brick.
A website located at www.appleiphonelawsuit.com has been set up asking other California residents to join in the suit. A full copy of the lawsuit is there for people to read.
Unspecified damages are being sought because the attorneys don’t know as of yet how many plaintiffs there will be.
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