Antitrust Suit Against Apple, AT&T Moves Forward
Apple and AT&T Mobility’s attempt to block a class-action antitrust lawsuit against the two companies has been denied.
Federal Judge James Ware denied the companies’ ask to dismiss a lawsuit brought on one year ago by iPhone owners who said Apple’s 1.1.1 iPhone software update made their phones inoperable. The judge, in his 31-page order, additionally denied Apple’s motion to dismiss and force arbitration, according to case documents filed with the court.
The judge, however, did agree to Apple’s motion to limit the claims to New York, California and Washington, the states where the plaintiffs reside.
Cause for Concern
The iPhone owners first filed the lawsuit after their “unlocked phones” were no longer working. Unlocking a phone allows the owner to use the phone without having to contract with a specific carrier — in that case, AT&T. Unlocked iPhones plus allowed owners to upload third-party applications.
Apple allegedly wanted to stop that unlocking from happening, so on September 27, 2007, the company released a software update, 1.1.1, for
The judge found that Apple and AT&T were in violation of illegally conditioning the iPhone warranty on consumers’ use, and were therefore breaking the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, a federal statute governing warranties on consumer products.
The update was issued by Apple as a way of retaliating against consumers who had unlocked their phones or installed unapproved applications, according to the judge’s order. Proof of that is in Apple’s own press release, which states that downloading the 1.1.1. version will “likely conclusion in the modified phone becoming permanently inoperable when future Apple-supplied iPhone software is installed.”
misleading Practices
The lawsuit, filed last year by Paul Holman and Lucy Rivello, claimed several ways in which Apple and…
Original post by Mike
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