Apple Slapped with Class Action Suit for Bricking Unlocked iPhones. Justice Will Be Served
Timothy Smith of California once loved his iPhone. You could see him wandering the streets of San Jose with his face glued to the phone’s shiny black screen, tapping and pinching away, oblivious to everything around him like people crying out for help, oncoming traffic, lamp posts, etc. But that love affair ended over a week ago when Smith updated his unlocked iPhone to the infamous firmware update 1.1.1, rendering it iBricked. Since Apple refuses to support iPhones which have been “tampered with”, Smith did what any self righteous American consumer would do… he called his attorney and filed a class action suit.
What makes this case even more interesting, and utterly hilarious, is that it seeks not only to collect damages from Apple for the bricking of iPhones, but also demands an end to the practice of carrier locking phones entirely. Nothing short of lightening bolts from the sky reigning down on AT&T will bring an end to that; it’s part of life. Death - Taxes - and Carrier exclusive contracts.
October 9th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Apple did warn about the firmware upgrade, but I think they should put an end to the carrier locking the phones. Usually if you sign a contract you would get a discount on the phone. In the case of the iPhone there were no discounts and you still had to sign a 2 year contract and the phone was locked on top of that.
October 9th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
Tim, if you need me to join in the class action suit, I will be there. I too, believe in open sourcing and competition in the market to lower prices and to give comsumer choices.
October 9th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
people should not hve violated the terms of service
October 9th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
I’m a mac fan but I have to say that i disagree with Apple attitude. They are acting the way Microsoft did for years. We are already paying much more money for being a mac user… please let us choose!!! Quagmire, what would you say if Apple had a policy that say you can only use the internet provider they have a deal with??? Come on!! Apple know we love their products… It would be nice if they could give back that love sometimes!
October 9th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
Apple quite clearly stated you should not tamper with your iPhone, and in the event you did it’s not supported. In addition you were told it would be unusable if you updated the firmware. If you don’t like it, tough, buy a windows phone, you were warned. This dude has no case and for the sake of common sense I hope he is thrown out of court and forced to pay costs. Open and shut case if you ask me.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
Seth idiots like you love paying premium .. stop thinking about what they said … But rather what you as a buyer should be able to do with your phone after paying 600$..
Seth what if apple said in order to listen to music on iPhone .. U would have to purchase music only from iTunes..? And that other content would erease whenever there an update? I mean come on…
Apple is being very “Castro ” in the world of phone.
October 9th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
Carlos - don’t buy the damn thing then!
Problem solved.
Seth - preach on.
October 10th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Actually I paid $399! I’m not a premium paying impulsist!