Class-Action Lawsuit Over iPhone Locking? 533
An anonymous reader writes "InfoWeek blogger Alex Wolfe reports that some iPhone users are mad as heck at Apple for bricking up their device in response to non-Apple-authorized software downloads. In a discussion thread on Apple's own iPhone forum, one user posts that he's 'Seeking respondents for possible class action lawsuit against Apple Inc. relating to refusal to service iPhones and related accessories under warranty.' Some who have replied to the post agree that Apple is being unbelievably arrogant and is ripe for legal action. But others say Cupertino is well within its rights to control its own device." Apple seems to have removed the cited post, but it is reproduced as screenshots in the article.
Update: 10/02 02:42 GMT by KD : Reader Cleverboy wrote in to note that the screenshots present in the article are of a posting on Macosrumors, not Apple's forum, and to question the conclusion that Apple removed any posting. The article has been updated since this story went live to make clear that the original posting by user "myndex" was on the Apple forum and was (apparently) removed by Apple; and that the screenshot is of a mirror post myndex made to Macosrumors.
Update: 10/02 02:42 GMT by KD : Reader Cleverboy wrote in to note that the screenshots present in the article are of a posting on Macosrumors, not Apple's forum, and to question the conclusion that Apple removed any posting. The article has been updated since this story went live to make clear that the original posting by user "myndex" was on the Apple forum and was (apparently) removed by Apple; and that the screenshot is of a mirror post myndex made to Macosrumors.
QTopia Greenphone (Score:5, Interesting)
Fixing vulnerabilities (Score:5, Interesting)
Will other companies follow suit? (Score:2, Interesting)
I don't think the phone is actually "unlocked" (Score:5, Interesting)
I think the unlock method will change over the next few months. In the US, Apple uses AT&T, in Germany, they use T-Mobile, ETC... When the hacking groups begin to compare the differences between the various regional iPhones, they'll find that there is a better way to unlock. I doubt future firmware updates will convert German iPhones to AT&T. So by examine the difference, we should get closer to having a real unlock and hopefully we'll be able to avoid issues with firmware updates as a result.
Re:Bad move apple (Score:1, Interesting)
They also told me that I couldn't enter the car in street races if I wanted warranty service. After I burned my nos system they wouldn't support it.
In other words, you can do whatever you want with your Mustang or your iPhone. But you can't expect them to support it.
What a predicament (Score:2, Interesting)
It would seem that Apple just doesn't want to let that be.
Re:Not bricking unless you choose to install (Score:2, Interesting)
To apply this logic to a PC, if you install Doom on your machine, the warranty is voided.
the end of FOSS on phones (Score:4, Interesting)
Yeah, the QTopia Greenphone is GPL alright. Unlike Linux and Gnome, Troll Tech wants commercial developers to pay them big bucks for the privilege of developing software for their platform. Even the FSF doesn't go that far. It's a marketing gimmick to help Troll Tech establish their platform on phones--a platform that deliberately excludes major other open source toolkits.
and encourages user development and contributions to its features.
Well, that's debatable. At QTopia prices, it very much discourages commercial development for the platform. Furthermore, although QTopia is released under the GPL, nobody other than Troll Tech can actually realistically develop or enhance it--if anybody tried to ship their own version of QTopia, none of the commercial QTopia apps could run on it.
And it runs Linux. If THAT isn't a better deal than an iPhone, I dunno what is.
Just about anything else: if Troll Tech manages to establish their platform as the default "open source" phone platform, open source on mobile devices would be effectively dead because it would be fully controlled by Troll Tech. You can contribute to QTopia only if Troll Tech lets you, and only if you effectively donate your free labor to them.
So, for now, I'll stick with my Palm: Palm has open source development tools, there is plenty of open source software, and the company doesn't dictate what license I can ship my software under.
(Another reason not to use QTopia is that it sucks from a user interface point of view, but that's a separate debate.)
Re:Bad move apple (Score:4, Interesting)
And to be honest, acquiring NextStep back when they did was a failure. NextOS and those cubes, as cool as they were, pretty much tanked. It took them a decade to actually start using a derivation of that OS commercially again (the original OS X Server), and a few more years after that before it was truly ready as a desktop/workstation environment.
Re:Official Steve Jobs Response (Score:3, Interesting)
It's not a matter of surprise that Apple did something like this (though a lot of the Apple fanboys, or at least the people who like Apple enough to buy an IPhone, but not devoted enough to do what Apple wants them to do and use AT&T, but still fanboy enough to believe Apple can do no wrong and would never spite any of it's customers, most of that group (which is larger than it sounds
Expected !-> (does not imply) Can't be upset about it.
*Disclaimer- This comparison isn't meant to be used on the IPhone issue, it's not a comparison about what Apple's doing with the IPhone, it is meerly meant to illustrate that expected events can still make people upset, and with reason.
That's an easy one: Negligence. (Score:1, Interesting)
On what basis are you planning to sue, "gee I didn't think they were serious Judge?"
That's exactly what they'll do. "Gee your honor, I knew they publicly stated they would break the law, but I didn't think they were brazen enough to actually do it!" It's called gross negligence, and Apple will have their asses handed to them in court. Not only that, but the court can hand Apple actual damages and punitive damages for negligence.
Apple knew there were unlocking hacks out there. Apple knew their update was incompatible with those hacks. The could have simply checked for firmware originality before installing an update. Instead, they chose to have the installer update without checking the firmware first.
Imagine if Ford issued a product recall on fuel injectors. Let's say Ford knows for a fact that the replacement injector will cause the engine to explode when used in conjunction with an aftermarket supercharger. Ford proceeds to install replacement parts without first checking to see if such an aftermarket product is in use on the vehicles serviced. Who do you think is liable when the car explodes?
Re:Not bricking unless you choose to install (Score:1, Interesting)
I would compare it more to buying a Windows machine, then expecting MS to fix things because you installed whatever Crudware Norton is releasing, Windows Update Bricks your system because Norton patched certain system DLLs and registry entries.
The Warranty Suit Will Come (Score:3, Interesting)
Add to that opening a lot of justified vitriol, and I smell another lawsuit coming.
Re:Bad move apple (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Not bricking unless you choose to install (Score:4, Interesting)
Here in Denmark Apple has been involved in a very long legal battle over the iBooks which they in the end lost, but as far as I know still don't honor their obligations, customers still have to fight them.
I for one can't fathom why people buy Apple gear, they hardly ever want to honor their warranty if they can get away from it, when you use their stuff you are usually locked in. Battery replacement is nothing you can do yourself and Apple thinks its outside warranty, even if the battery fails within first year.
I for one won't buy an Apple product until they get down from their high horse and treat their customers with respect.
Re:Bad move apple (Score:3, Interesting)
o_O
Just about anyone trying to enter the OS business with any real commercial viability has failed, because... well... the deck was kind of stacked, eh? NeXT had some real "holy crap!" technology that they were delivering--and had been delivering for years what other OS'es were promising and NOT delivering--but as has been constantly shown, that's not all it takes to carve out a market presence.
OSX Server was delivered 2.5 years or so after the acquisition of NeXT, with consumer OSX out two years after that (and to be fair, a solid version took until Jaguar's release in mid-2002, but that's still just over five years since the NeXT acquisition, which is well below your "decade" comment), which in the terms of huge operating systems is a pretty good turnaround for a major overhaul. You think they were futher along and better along with Copland, and were not otherwise spinning their wheels since System 7?
Not only has OSX been one of the best-received operating systems in general, but it certainly revitalized Apple. Not to mention the acquisition of NeXT allowed them to bring back Jobs without a lot of embarrassment for either him or Apple management, and in the end that brought solid leadership back to the company, dumping holes, simplifying and solidifying their product line, revitalizing their image, bringing in the iMac, some good sales, some actual good press...
It was pretty much the best decision they could have made, all things considered.
Take responsibility for your actions (Score:3, Interesting)
How much clearer could Apple have been? They put out a press release days before releasing the software, warning people that the firmware update could potentially damage unlocked iPhones. Then, when you downloaded the firmware update it threw up a warning screen saying that hacked/unlocked phones could be damaged by the firmware update. If that didn't scream "don't install me on a hacked phone" what would have?
Now people are looking to sue because they ignored these warnings and installed the firmware update anyway. Please grow up and take responsibility for your actions. You hacked the phone. Don't expect updates or further support, and, most of all--HEED THE VENDOR'S WARNINGS!
These potential lawsuits will go nowhere.
Re:These complaints are stupid (Score:3, Interesting)
At the risk of angering some of the priests and devout members of evangelical church of the bulbous fruit: While it's clear that Apple would do something like this, it does not mean it is fair to customers or legal. I hate to see an true innovator like Apple go to court, but someone needs to answer if changing software actually can void the warranty of a general purpose computer. Used to be that changing firmware required ROM burners and other expensive and non-consumer easy gadgets. Now most of us store our data in firmware in the form of USB flash drives. It's also not clear that manufacturers can sell you a device and still retain control or virtual shared ownership of that device? There are many questions still to be worked out - chief among these is the model inherently unconscionable and unfair?
Only some hacked phones bricked (Score:3, Interesting)
So the notion that Apple's software is designed to recognize (which should be pretty easy) and disable modified phones seems to be false. It sounds more like Apple simply didn't bother to test and debut the upgrade with all of the hacked configurations. And why should they? After all, when you choose to violate the warranty by messing with the "not user serviceable" parts of a device, you do it at your own risk.