Angry iPhone users Sue Apple, AT&T
The latest chapter in the iPhone saga is shaping up to be the lawsuit over the software update on September 28th that users claim was designed to intentionally disable iPhones that had been unlocked for use on other networks.
The suit was filed on October 5th in San Jose, California seeking damages of $200 million.
If this lawsuit makes it’s way up the courts, it could turn into a class action suit worth many millions more. Here’s my beef — what does Apple have to gain by limiting it’s exposure to AT&T? I just don’t get it. I would probably have bought an iPhone if it weren’t for having to switch, therefore incurring cancellation fees from my ‘other’ network. I knew that all of the unlocking hype would eventually warrant a corporate response and decided to steer clear of it all.
With all of the positive press and cool points that Apple has accrued since the release of the iPod, why risk turning consumers against the brand name by releasing updates that make the unlocked phones useless? Didn’t they learn from their failures in the PC market that those kind of proprietary restrictions are suicidal?
I hope that Apple eventually moves away from AT&T exclusivity. It’s the smart move.
UPDATE: I just saw that there is another lawsuit filed in San Francisco for $1.6 billion. See the apple lawsuit PDF. The Holman-Rivello lawsuit claims that the iPhone 1.1.1 update was intended to cause “irreparable damage” to unlocked iPhones. The suit goes on to claim that, “Apple and AT&T agreed to go beyond these [previous] tactics and to take affirmative steps to break the iPhones of consumers who lawfully unlocked the AT&T SIM card or who installed third-party apps.”
Not good news for apple… I’ll keep you posted with any other updates.
I am wondering how Apple will launch Iphones in countries where phone locking is banned (e.g. Belgium). Those phones are going to be all over Ebay cause you can use them anywhere and keep them up to date (like any cell phone ought to be).
I don’t see what grounds there are to sue for $1.6 billion dollars in damage… People who are hacking into phones and changing the guts should know that they are susceptible to problems with future updates. Maybe apple did go a little far with the 1.1.1 update, but how can they be found guilty in a lawsuit?
It’s insane to me that corporations can lock their end-users into such agreements. Offering discounts for locked phones (thus encouraging AT&T business) would be acceptable; essentially breaking the product because of use is not.
Law suits today always include incredulous numbers–they’re attention-getters, and maybe appropriately so (against larger corporations).
Apple TV and the iphone are both garbage, hyped out pieces of crap. Apple has made some bad choices, the only thing thats helped them is other company’s have made were even worse ones.