AT&T has taken the fight to iPhone unlocking-for-profit.
Press release via iPhone Unlocking:
iphoneunlocking.com, a subsidiary of UniquePhones (http://www.uniquephones.com). was poised and ready to release remote software unlocking services for the iphone today at 12 noon EST. The sale of unlocking codes is on hold after the company received a telephone call from a Menlo Park, California, law firm at approximately 2:54 a.m. this morning (GMT).
After saying they were phoning on behalf of AT&T, the law firm presented issues such as copyright infringement and illegal software dissemination. Uniquephones is taking legal advice to ascertain whether AT&T was sending a warning shot or directly threatening legal action. The logistics of different continents as well as it being a weekend factors into how the situation develops.
Until an assessment is made of the potential of legal action, Uniquephones is unable to release the unlocking software for sale. The company spokesperson also said that the company would also be evaluating what to eventually do with the software should they be legally denied the right to sell it. A substantial delay caused by any legal action would render the unlocking software a less valuable commodity as well as creating unforeseen security issues for the company.
Source:http://blog.iphoneunlocking.com/?p=15
The iphone is a nice product. It molds many different devices into one easy to use understandable device. It’s not revolutionary, THE IPOD WAS. Apple has made millions of dollars off of illegal downloading. The Itunes store was a way to legitimize their device for the mainstream. Apple does not make any money off of the Itunes store. The iphone is different. It’s a portable mac. Apple has much to gain off of this device. But I did not buy one because it is not on the faster networks. We all know apple will come out with a better version with the faster 3G networks. I will wait for version 2.0.
Hacking the device is a waste of time because Apple has excellent coders who will squash this hack in 10 minutes…
BIG surprise when folks de-HOOk their iPhone and try and re-sync with all the Apple goodies coming down the road
Apple wouldn’t be evil enough to, say, have the iPhone track whose network it uses, would they?
What if a hacked iPhone just happens to stop working after a while? What if it does that AND sets a little flag that voids your warranty? What if your friendly Apple Store refuses to do any repairs on a hacked phone?
Sorry for the FUD, but with the auto-update “feature”, you have to wonder what else is going on behind the scenes.
“I’m not going to be paying $600 for a device and then subject it to all sorts of potentially damaging and counter-productive hacking and other forms of messing around.”
And that’s fine if you don’t want to do that, but why should you care if somebody else wants to?
My bet is this, when you buy the boxed phone from Apple, at that point you have no contract with AT&T unless you try to activate the phone with them. Under US law you are specifically allowed to modify copyrighted phone software to allow it to work with another network. Further unless the terms of your purchase of the phone from Apple state that you must use it with AT&T, Apple have no way of enforcing that legally either. Activate it with somebody else, tough luck AT&T.
“Activate it with somebody else, tough luck AT&T”
you don’t really understand. apple has an agreement with AT
@T. which means that any hack will be taken care of, I know they will because i’m in the know…
good luck. and to actually pay to get a hack is funny, most if not 98 percent of hacks are free.
“you don’t really understand. apple has an agreement with AT
@T. which means that any hack will be taken care of, I know they will because i’m in the know…”
And then it will be re-hacked. Just how many battles between hackers and those trying to stop them have you been involved in?
Now, imagine that! DUH! What they were trying to do was illegal so for those with common sense. It’s no surprise I’m afraid.
Any battle between Apple and hackers will be won by Apple. Period. End of story.
Apple is far smarter than the hackers, and the problem with hackers is that they think they’re smart in the first place. All they really are, are insecure computer geeks with too much time on their hands with too much to prove.
Again, Apple is in control of the iPhone. They are in control. They knew *exactly* how the iPhone would be hacked, and knew it would be something to keep the iPhone in the press. They were right.
I can’t believe how many people on this board have little or no knowledge about the legality of this. it is PERFECTLY LEGAL to unlock your cellphone. There is NOTHING any company (AT&T, Apple, Berkshire&Hattaway;, Pfizer or anyone else) could do to you if you choose to hack your phone. They cannot legally prevent you from unlocking it and CANNOT legally re-lock it against your will by any means. According to the laws in the US (DMCA, among others), AT&T cannot win any legal battles against users who unlock the phone, or distributors of software designed to crack the phone.
This is rather new (December 06) interpretation of DMCA, but it is definite and legitimate.
It would be very very strange if anyone was legally stopped for unlocking any cellphone, including the iPhone.
@ Predrag –
AT&T is not going after this company for unlocking their phones – they are stopping them from distributing the hack. My guess is that they do have a legal basis for doing so, since the company has pulled their plans for the big launch in order to “assess “the potential of legal action”. You can bet that AT&T has an intimidating legal team that’s more than ready to wolf down little hackers like “uniquephones.com”.
Hey Oops, are you god or what?
You sure are certain about a lot of things that you cannot possibly know.
So long as monthly revenues come in from ATT, selling open iPhones is simply not as sweet.
One problem with the DMCA, from what I’ve heard is that, any individual can unlock a phone on their own accord, as most would do. It’s the companies that seek to make a profit from selling an unlocked phone or even the means of making a phone unlocked that are excluded from the DMCA, Engadget’s article covers this. So like many things under our government, it’s illegal to sell what’s legal to give away. An open source hack would probably be the best for legal issues. As of right now. Anybody who truly understands this situation knows why things are the way they are. Apple chose AT&T because of GSM, “Why sell a product if you can’t sell it to the world?” They looked at GSM networks and picked the better network, with the most subscribers, with the greatest range and with the best plans. They instantly found AT&T. Verizon and Sprint refused because they understood that they would have to really treat the phone as special to have them do everything Apple insisted on doing with it. They saw it as an attack on their company’s cellular infrastructure. Imagine if Verizon had to give up their precious ad-loaded VCast, just so the iPhone could have the real internet? Not gonna happen. If people simply ask why things are they way they are, life gets a lot simpler.
That was an enjoyable read. Thsnks
This whole – the software should have been free anyway really pi**es me off. These guys worked hard to produce this software. As a software engineer myself, I know the hard graft creating something like this is. So, why shouldn’t they get paid for it? How do they buy food otherwise? Software does not just come out of thin air – software is NOT free. It always costs something to produce.
so it okay for them to make money off of someone else work? Apple and AT&T have invested great resources to produce this great phone more than the average phone. For them to let it be use other than it was suppose to be. For those who are pissed off because you can’t use iphone on Tmobile or europe? You knew the detail about the phone before buying it, you should be mad at yourself. As software project engineer, development of new product is not cheap. The risk that AT&T and Apple took with the iphone should be paid especial AT&T. You invest into a project with a great risk with great return and someone want to take great return away from you, that pretty low to me.
These hackers are trash to me because if you going to hack something, do for the better good which mean hacks that let you run other application on it or improve the features not down grade the phone where all other features aren’t avialable.
T-mobile isn’t a good as AT&T. For those who say, I go to europe or asia i need a phone…. then use your OLD phone! I’m sure when iphone come to europe… you will be able to use your iphone there with another sim card from another iphone provider.
Most of these posts are so oblivious. Do you people realize you are legally allowed to unlock your phone in the US. There are laws on the books that protect you. Apple will not “brick” people’s phones with software updates as some people think. The people unlocking will be a minority and I am guessing Apple could really care less.
Apple’s interest is that it gets paid each month for each iPhone subscriber. Apple also doesn’t want people mucking around with the iPhone and causing problems, which could become black eye stories on the web and could lessen the user’s experience with the iPhone (no visual voicemail or other features).
AT&T’s interest is that they don’t want people using iPhones on other carrier’s networks b/c then AT&T doesn’t get any money (duh!).
Apple and AT&T BOTH have a HUGE interest in preventing the hack.
@Oops: “Any battle between Apple and hackers will be won by Apple. Period. End of story.”
Wait, what battle? Apple doesn’t (or shouldn’t) care what people do with their iPhones. it’s AT&T who in in prime position to get pissy. And they don’t own the world’s cellular networks, so they’ll just have to deal with it and pound sand. What, are they gonna get all legal when Apple releases the iPhone to other markets, such as Canada and Europe, where the don’t have the same stronghold? Besides, the relationship between Apple and the hackers here is mutually beneficial for both groups, because (a) the hackers get their bit of fame, notoriety, and hopefully some well-deserved $$$ for having performed a service to the public, and (b) at the same time, Apple basks in the critical mass levels of iPhone hype, while new customers buy the hardware to try out the hack. People in those non-US markets won’t have to wait to get their hands on one, they can use them in their local networks as soon as this hack goes public. Apple wins because their marketshare instantly increases, and more people around the globe get to show off the tech, thus getting new customers interested. WIN-WIN-WIN for the hackers, for Apple, and in the end, all of US.
iphone is not subsidized by either Apple or ATT. People pay retail for it, therefore they are within their rights to do as they please with it.Following the reasoning of some, what would next be, not allowing one to use OS of their choice because they happen to buy a mac from apple???
To each it’s own, period