Since Apple’s decision to ‘brick’ (render completely inoperable) any iPhones that have been tampered with, cracked or hacked, a Californian resident has filed a class-action lawsuit.
The class-action – filed by Damian R Fernandez on behalf of Timothy P. Smith was filed on Friday. The suit claims that Apple has violated anti-trust laws by preventing the phone’s use with carriers other than AT&T. Many ‘hacks’ to the iPhone were carried out in order to stop AT&T being the only available carrier.
The monopoly by AT&T, enforced by Apple, means that customers have to pay inflated prices for the service. This, Smith says, is against Californian law and against the provision of a 2006 exception in the DCMA which allows users to unlock their iPhones for personal use. However, Apple has no legal obligation to facilitate or support any unlock attempt.
While some carriers who provide handsets as part of a contract agreement have been sending out unlock codes – the code that allows the handset to be used with another carrier – essentially facilitating the change of carrier, AT&T have said that they positively will not be following suit. This, cries Smith, is monopolistic behaviour and should be illegal.
Apple’s decision to deactivate the hacked iPhones is on shaky ground, since presumably it could be argued that the DCMA provisions are not being followed: it’s simply not possible to unlock the iPhone, even for personal use, because of Apple’s actions.
Smith wants an injunction to prevent further sales of the iPhone with software restrictions, and wants Apple to promise to honour warranty agreements with those customers who have cracked the software.