Apple May Be Breaking the Law With Policy On iPhone Unlocks 385
an anonymous reader writes "Apple's recent decision to void warranties for folks that unlocked their iPhones may wind them up in legal hot water. The site Phone News points out that Apple appears to have broken a key warranty law relevant to SIM unlocks. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, a law decades old, would seem to prevent Apple from voiding warranties in the way it is threatening to do with the iPhone, or so the site argues. 'The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act states that Apple cannot void a warranty for a product with third-party enhancements or modifications to their product. The only exception to this rule is if Apple can determine that the modification or enhancement is responsible [for] damaging the product in question ... The legal [questions are]: Is the SIM Unlock process that has become mainstream doing damage to iPhone? And, also, is Apple designing future software updates to do damage to iPhone when said SIM Unlock code is present?'"
Re:Why this is probably wrong (Score:5, Informative)
I think you'll find that locking phones in the UK is only permitted because the carrier subsidises the cost of the phone.
Modchips? (Score:3, Informative)
Auto makers have been doing it for years (Score:5, Informative)
iPhones can probably play the same crap. As long as they warn you that 3rd party software or hardware may brick the system, they're fine. Nintendo just did that with Metroid Prime 3. There is a warning saying that upgrading the firmware will most likely brick machines with mods, and even gave instructions on how to circumvent the installation. You couldn't play the game, but at least you don't have a brick.
Re:Why this is probably wrong (Score:3, Informative)
Jobs had a sink-the-company idea: AT&T! (Score:4, Informative)
People have a legitimate need to use other SIM cards in their phones. For example, if you travel to Europe or Asia or South America, it is common to buy a SIM card there (GSM phones only) because then you get a local number, making it much cheaper for local people to call you and for you to call them.
Locking the iPhone while charging the full price for it was an attempt to squeeze more money from buyers, most of whom don't fully understand all the ways cellular phone companies, and now Apple, can abuse them, in my opinion.
AT&T is no longer the old AT&T, because the name was sold [att.com] to SBC. My understanding is that the SBC trademark was worse than useless because the company is so abusive. So, the managers decided to use another name. Those interested in how that happened can watch Stephen Colbert explain in a 1 minute 14 second video: The New AT&T [google.com].
SBC taking the name AT&T is, in my opinion, a kind of legal fraud, but fraud nevertheless. People are bound to be confused and misled. AT&T had a very good reputation. SBC-AT&T is a completely different company, and has no connection in its culture with the old AT&T. At the very least, the SEC should require the company to disclose in the first sentence of any prospectus for its stock that there is no connection whatsoever.
Re:Huh? (Score:3, Informative)
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Disagreement from Slashdot's Unofficial Law Dude (Score:5, Informative)
What this literally means is that Apple's warranty cannot say "This warranty is void if you use the iPhone with a company other than AT&T." However, Apple's warranty doesn't say that. It says that the warranty is void if you mess with the firmware. It HAPPENS TO BE that the only way to make it POSSIBLE to use another company's service requires doing something else that will void your warranty, but the warranty terms themselves aren't anti-competitive, the firmware is.
Even if the terms of the warranty did say this, Apple is probably still safe because it wouldn't be hard to argue that the iPhone isn't "function[ing] properly" if Visual Voicemail is broken.
Any case brought under this law would be without merit and would probably be dismissed for failure to state a claim.
Why this _is_ wrong... (Score:5, Informative)
Most of the "they can't do X" crap, stems from a misinterpretation of one specific part of the act:
The clause is to prevent, say, a vacuum cleaner company from requiring used of their own brand of bags (unless they provide them free). It doesn't mean you can modify your car for more horsepower, and expect the manufacturer to cover the engine under warranty when it breaks. It also doesn't mean a manufacturer can't put a clause in the warranty which says the car's warranty is voided if you hang fuzzy dice from the mirror. It means that they can't put a clause which says "Use of any brand fuzzy dice other than ACME brand fuzzy dice will void the engine warranty."
Specific to the case at hand, since Apple provides firmware "without charge" during the warranty period, Magnuson-Moss does not require that they allow third party or modified firmware to be used under the warranty terms, and Apple is within the law if they require that only their firmware be used to maintain a valid warranty.
Re:Why this is probably wrong (Score:5, Informative)
No, Apple is "doing this" (I assume you mean, discouraging unlocking of iPhones) so AT&T doesn't have any reason to claim Apple is violating a contractual agreement. Could Apple make sure nobody can unlock the phones? Probably, yes. Have they done so? Nope. Just like every other time they've changed something to make some mega-corp happy, they make it so joe-user has to go out of their way, and that way Apple is covered. Want to copy a CD? Can't do it with drag & drop, sorry. Download a tool to do it? Well, it's not Apple's fault, they didn't give you the tool. Want to get around the DRM? You need to use a tool that isn't from Apple to do it. Want to unlock your iPhone? Same story. They can't just give you a way to do it, or they'd be in trouble with AT&T's lawyers. But, if they put up a token effort to keep people from doing it, and someone smart bypasses that (my bet is at 2 hours after the release being the time to workaround), well, (shrug) we tried, AT&T, I guess they're just too smart.
I don't disagree that a recent update broke that function. I don't think we agree on why the change was made though. And, how long did it stay broken? If Apple really wanted to lock people out, I'm pretty sure they could have. The fact that they haven't tells me something.
Re:Software/Firmware != Hardware (Score:2, Informative)
No they won't. The diff operation is changed by the different engine you installed, and will not be covered. Saying so doesn't change that, it just makes you wrong.
And the rest of your post is wrong too.
Forgot one thing (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Why this is probably wrong (Score:3, Informative)
I think you are asking why the hash is encrypted, which has less reason for being so though I could easily wave hands a bit and say it's a light form of security that makes it harder for malware to infect and affect an iPod. So it's not like there's no valid technical reason even for that, it's just more dubious as far as value added. But the other poster makes a great point, they could have easily engineered a far tougher nut to crack so the truth must not be as dire as you are making it out to be.
Re:FUCK YOU MOD (Score:3, Informative)
In regard to your whinging about the troll mod, let me say that troll mods have nothing to do with truth, or logic. If you put your opinion in an inflammatory or obstructive way, no matter how logical or truthful you may think it is, you run the risk of legitimately getting a troll mod. That last "and the rest of your comment was wrong" line was especially obstructive. How are you meant to discuss the topics at hand if everyone just said "you are completely wrong" and provided little to no evidence why.
Re:Why this is probably wrong (Score:3, Informative)
Simply because I've seen it done many many times. It's standard business practice. Heck, I've seen just Microsoft do it a dozen times. I can think of a dozen times between DOS 3.2 and Windows 3.1/DOS 5. I've seen pharmaceutical companies intentionally sabotage generic competition with this tactic.
I'm absolutely positive that AT&T's lawsuit would fail if they tried to sue Apple for not bricking hacked iPhones. No judge would prosecute that. Of course, that is assuming AT&T would themselves recognise that not bricking the hacked iPhone constitutes breach of contract. It's only obvious now that the update is actually going to brick the iPhone.
Of course the suit you mention would fail. They wouldn't sue for that. They would sue claiming that Apple did not exercise due diligence in protecting their exclusivity. Doesn't even really matter if they win, the goal is to tie Apple up in court and squeeze concessions out of them to settle.