"iBrick" Owners Threaten to Sue
Mon Oct 1, 2007 1:04PM EDT
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Peeved at Apple for their "bricked" iPhones, a group of angry users who'd hacked their now-useless phones say they're going to court. Do they have a case?
The message post (while it was online, at least; Wolfe posted a screenshot on his blog) certainly drew out plenty of irate users, many of whom rendered their hacked iPhones useless in the wake of Apple's software update last week. "I'm afraid I'm not with Apple on this one," Wolfe quotes one poster as saying. "Seems to me that Apple's usage terms are onerous and unreasonable…What, we live in the digital equivalent of the iron curtain?"
News of the posting is just the latest evidence of a groundswell of anger aimed at Apple, which just a few short months ago was everyone's favorite tech company. Wolfe himself takes a swipe at Jobs & Co.: "Apple's stance really bothers me," he writes. "It seems like Jobs has turned the famous 'Pottery Barn' rule on its ear. In the iPhone world according to Apple, it's 'You bought it, we [might] break it.'"
OK, but does all that translate to a legal case? Consider the words of University of Alabama law school assistant dean J. Noah Funderburg, described by the New York Times as a "longtime Mac user." Is Mr. Funderburg coming to the aid of these wronged iPhoners? Sure doesn't look like it. "Anyone who hacks must know that they are taking certain risks," said Funderburg, according to the Times. "If they aren't willing to assume the risks upfront—like a brick iPhone—then maybe they should not hack the device."
But wait, shouldn't Apple be liable for essentially reaching out and breaking a product you bought and paid for? Funderburg doesn't seem to think so: "We have a free marketplace...buy a product, including using it on the terms accompanying the purchase, or don’t buy it. And learn to live with not always getting everyting you want." Ouch.
Related:
Apple Users Talking Class-Action Lawsuit Over iPhone Locking [InformationWeek]
Comments on "iBrick" Owners Threaten to Sue
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2 Posted by wisepotatogremlin@sbcglobal.net on Mon Oct 1, 2007 9:02PM EDT Report Abuse
I thought this quote was interesting: "We have a free marketplace...buy a product, including using it on the terms accompanying the purchase, or don’t buy it." Well, if we buy something and are only supposed to use it how the seller wants, then it isn't really ours, is it?
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3 Posted by monkeystripe on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:25PM EDT Report Abuse
Hackers deserve what they get - if you deliberately choose to ignore the Apple Ts and Cs then put up and shut up if it kills your phone when the manufacturer next does a firmware upgrade. This is US consumer culture at it's worst - 'I killed by own iPhone, but I want someone else to pick up the tab'. Crazy!
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4 Posted by navalsky87 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:34PM EDT Report Abuse
Apple is jst being very greedy we already paid the price on a phone i personally don't care for the price i pay but give me a break and let me enjoy the money i spent..
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5 Posted by jgon_9 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:34PM EDT Report Abuse
I don't see any reason why Apple should worry about people who hack their product. There is a reason why the phone is locked to AT&T. Apple and AT&T have a legal contract. If you want an unlocked phone there are many, many options available. Don't get my wrong, I'm not an Apple fanboy. I don't see any reason to own an iPhone, when I have a Sprint Mogul. This is just as bad as that lawsuit filed because the iPhone price was dropped. A company can sell their product at whatever price they choose. It's not AT&T or Apple's problem you can't get more money selling your phone on eBay. That's the risk you play when you buy something when it first comes out.
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6 Posted by popeye206 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:16PM EDT Report Abuse
I think it's funny... Apple warned the hackers to reset their iPhones before the update was coming... saying it would probably break their phones.... now they are mad that they broke! Apple is not evil here... they cut a deal with At&T so they could develop some cool things together... each have invested a lot into the iPhone... why is it evil of them to want to get their investments back and make money. Is't that what business and America is all about? If people have a problem with the phones being locked to AT&T... they should fight that much bigger picture issue not get mad because they broke their own phone by trying to make it do something it was not ment to do.
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7 Posted by fenixdown84 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:59PM EDT Report Abuse
Apple reported since the announcement of the iPhone that wireless service would be provided by AT&T. So its not a big surprise that the iPhone was designed to work exclusively with AT&T. Remember when Motorola's Razr first came out exclusively on Cingular? Now it is supported by more than one wireless provider. People need to learn to be patient, or read and understand the fine print. Instead people broke their phones and want someone else to be responsible for their own actions.
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8 Posted by griggsz on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:13PM EDT Report Abuse
That's nice. I spent $400 for a cell phone and they might "break" it? I don't think so Senior. Automatic updates: OFF.
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9 Posted by buzpt1959 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:15PM EDT Report Abuse
Despite not following the terms of service, I suppose one has the right to hack their product. However, it amazes me that those that have are whining. If a consumer is not happy with the terms of a service or product then "don't buy it." By the way. I love my Iphone and find no need to change it.
1 Posted by rogueist on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:49PM EDT Report Abuse
The law currently allows for people to unlock their phones to use them on other carriers, and to ask the carrier to unlock the phone for them and the carries must provide the unlock codes on request - they of course can charge a fee or have other terms for it. ATT has said that APPLE is locking the phones, and not them - so they can sue Apple for violating the current law in that regard. I was expecting this. There are LEGITIMATE people who have had their iPhones made into iBricks from this update as well, so its not only hackers having problems. In the end, this should only serve to push the Cellphone Users Bill of Rights to be fast-tracked and passed within weeks in Congress, and then cellphone locking will be illegal once that passes.