Apple Sued Over iPhone Bricking 418
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by
Zonk
from the better-than-the-price-change-suit dept.
from the better-than-the-price-change-suit dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The week's debate over the iPhone 1.1.1 has finally resulted in legal action. InfoWeek reports that on Friday, California resident Timothy Smith sued Apple in a class-action case in Santa Clara County Superior court. The suit was filed by Damian Fernandez, the lawyer who's been soliciting plaintiffs all week for a case against Apple. The suit doesn't ask for a specific dollar amount, but seeks an injunction against Apple, which prevents it from selling the iPhone with any software lock. It also asks that Apple be enjoined from denying warranty service to users of unlocked iPhone, and from requiring iPhone users to get their phone service through AT&T."
About time! (Score:1, Insightful)
Stupid lawsuit again...? (Score:5, Insightful)
While i agree that Apple should be forced to sell unlocked phones, modifying a product in a non-approved way DOES invalidate your waranty. Why should the vendor be held reliable if YOU break his software?
Watch them lose the case.... (Score:5, Insightful)
I mean when you have to buy numerous formats of a song because you are not allowed to pirate what you buy, to yourself for use on another device.... then of course At&T iphone lockin is acceptable.... If you want to use a different carrier you need to use a different format/device.
Anticompetitive practices is the only thing to argue here, but if you bring in a bunch of other non-issues then you can make the case lose.
Caveat Emptor (Score:5, Insightful)
Honestly, Apple has not attempted to deceive anyone on this issue, and they make it clear that service is with AT&T only. If you don't want to be locked-in with AT&T, then don't buy an iPhone. Period. If you still must absolutely have a class-action lawsuit, then do it against the Steve Jobs backdating accounting scandal.
Apple has great products (Score:1, Insightful)
I say Apple should go down this time because they behave like bastards.
Having said that, I question the sanity of people rushing in to buy a USD500+ iPhone knowing it's blocked, relying on 3rd party software for unblocking and expect Apple to own up. It's not that you are deprived of essential things in life by NOT owning an iPhone.
Re:Stupid lawsuit again...? (Score:5, Insightful)
Apple did not release an iPhone SDK or API that could be programmed to. Why should they be held responsible for what happens when iPhone updates break iPhones with arbitrary software on them.
It would be like changing the linux kernel for some special project you are workin on and then complaining that your unapproved changes no longer worked when the next kernel release came along. That's why there are API and SDKs and manual pages. Go beyond them at your peril.
Re:Stupid lawsuit again...? (Score:1, Insightful)
First, I agree completely in that broken iPhones is fault of the owners, not Apple.
But why should be Apple forced to sell unlocked phones? If you don't like their offer, then don't buy a locked iPhone. That's free market.
Bloody idiots. (Score:3, Insightful)
OK, so I'm with everyone else hoping that before long the practice of locking phones to specific networks gets outlawed, but in this particular case, Apple haven't done anything wrong.
They are only responsible for providing updates which work with their software as supplied, and not software and iPhones which have been hacked specifically against Apple's advice, to get them working on other networks.
If your phone gets bricked by an Apple update after you've unlocked it, then it's entirely you fault. No-one else's. You did something that you knew full well at the time you shouldn't have done, and let's face it, it's not a simple process, so there can be no possible claim that you didn't know the consequences of your actions, and if you didn't understand this process and the implications, then you're even more of a fool for doing it. You've learned valuable lesson here - don't mess with things you don't understand. You immediately voided your warranty, again something you were fully aware that you'd be doing, and began using it in a way it was never intended or designed to be used, so you're not entitled to support. And now you've came out of it looking like a cock. With no phone. You bloody idiot.
Re:Stupid lawsuit again...? (Score:5, Insightful)
Think OS X 10.0 versus 10.2 they work the same yet the code itself has been cleaned up.
DMCA Confusion (Score:5, Insightful)
Is it? I think the current situation is as follows:
Re:Stupid lawsuit again...? (Score:4, Insightful)
Now I've seen nothing but insinuations that Apple did this myself. But some lawyer obviously thinks there is a bit more then insinuations. Whether or not he's hoping to confuse the courts or has a good case remains to be seen.
Re:Stupid lawsuit again...? (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Stupid lawsuit again...? (Score:5, Insightful)
How do you know? The upgrade might have had that effect but it might not have been deliberate, but simply the result of trying to apply an update to software that was in an unknown state because it have been modified by the user.
Why is the iPhone any different than a computer? (Score:4, Insightful)
I really see no true difference between using your iPhone (with a carrier OF YOUR CHOICE) and hooking your landline (with a carrier OF YOUR CHOICE) through your computer's modem so you can use a software phone and answering machine. Also, how is it any different from using your laptop with a cellular card (with a carrier OF YOUR CHOICE) to get internet connectivity on the go?
To my layman eyes, the law in this area seems ad hoc and gives special attention to handheld cellular devices. Fortunately, it seems likely that unlocking is legal [slate.com]. I seriously hope this case will be the first of many to push regulation of companies that maliciously sabotage their customers after they bought the product to maximize profit.
I'm currently a very satisfied Mac user (I'm writing this post from a 3 year old PowerBook G4 17" that still runs like a spotted assed ape) but these sorts of moves sour me on AAPL. I'll give them a few chances to mess up and be forgiven, but as a computer savvy person who's primary love of Apple is for how they've beautifully wrapped what's under the hood, I can just as easily go right back to Linux where I came from. After all, that's what I use on the desktop and in the server rack already. Why is it, just when Microsoft seems to have shot itself in the foot with Vista and controlling what users do with their hardware, that Apple jumps right of the cliff with them?
Re:Stupid lawsuit again...? (Score:5, Insightful)
We're not talking physical materials or workmanship here, we're talking about people changing the software on their phones, and that is something which goes against the terms of Apple's warranty for the product. Your car analogy isn't a particularly good one, as Apple aren't saying they won't repair a phone which has physical faults or non-software related issues. Apple are in no way responsible for the software if it's been modified by the end-user. This is fairly standard stuff in software development/support terms.
Unlocking an iPhone isn't a simple process, and it's not something you'd do accidentally or casually without understanding what you were doing. Anyone unlocking their phone did so on purpose, and knew at the time they were invalidating their warranty. It's made very clear on every single website I've seen which details one of the approaches to doing this. If you got the instructions, then you knew the risks. Simple as. Anyone who's unlocked their iPhone is no longer entitled to support either, as they're not using their iPhone for the purpose for which it was intended.
Re:Bloody Apple fucking fanbois (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm not an Apple fanboy. I don't own any Apple products, but I do know software and embedded development rather well (after 20+ years experience) and I also like to think I have sensible and objective opinions on matters like this. Something you obviously don't.
Oh, and stop swearing, it makes you come across as borderline illiterate and definitely someone in their early teens with a lot to learn about the world.
Re:Stupid lawsuit again...? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Stupid lawsuit again...? (Score:3, Insightful)
And how could we go about getting proof... hmmm... maybe... how about a lawsuit? Isn't that what they're for - a group of people have a strong suspicion of foul play and would like to know if it indeed happened as they believe and if there is a legal remedy for it.
Apple could have avoided this (Score:5, Insightful)
Apple obviously wanted to brick the phones. Just about every other upgrade i've ever run checks the bits it's upgrading to make sure it's good to go.
Re:OfCOM (Score:5, Insightful)
It sounds like the sales staff are active advocates for the needs of the customer, like they listen to what the customer needs and earn their salary by tailoring a package to meet those needs.
That isn't allowed in the U.S. No Sales Manager would allow such a salesperson out on their retail floor. Here 'sales' is about maximizing return to the retail establishment at whatever expense. The customer is treated like a consumable.
Re:OfCOM (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Apple could have avoided this (Score:3, Insightful)
Testing for the unknown (Score:5, Insightful)
That sure sounds like premeditation to me.
Nah, that sounds more like them taking into account that if you do some unsupported random modification, then there is no way for them to know what you did. And if they don't know what you did, how is the testing process going to know what to test for? Private APIs are always going to be changing, since they don't need to take into account third-party applications are using them and if they are they shouldn't be.
If you hack something then you should accept the risks associated with it. Yes I believe Apple should be making the iPhone more open, but until it is anything you do which is not officially supported is at your own risk.
BTW Haven't a number of people come up with solutions to unbrick the iPhone?
Re:Stupid lawsuit again...? (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:OfCOM (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:OfCOM (Score:3, Insightful)
So, I think "unlocked" means "unlocked".
Re:Stupid lawsuit again...? (Score:1, Insightful)
I'm not in love with this new breed of wannabe hacker that isn't willing to take responsibility for their actions. When you modify the contents of the flash ram, you better be ready to get fucked up the ass if you try to use the warranty.
Apple warned beforehand that their tests showed if you fucked with the thing you may brick it by updating (you have to agree to this before it installs).
so take some fucking responsibility for your actions and quit whining. The reason apple doesn't clear the flash ram is they aren't responsible for retards that don't know THEY should do that before trying to update.
I've been doing the same shit on my PSP for over year, and it's my responsibility to make sure the thing is stock before I re-hack it.
Lesson learned, twats?
Bricking not intentional (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:OfCOM (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Stupid lawsuit again...? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:OfCOM (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:About time! (Score:3, Insightful)