“A San Diego-based lawsuit filed late last week alleges that Apple and its carrier partner AT&T have knowingly oversold iPhone 3G, promising fast speeds only to see a glut of customers bog down the network with devices that themselves are flawed,” Aidan Malley reports for AppleInsider.
“The 18-page complaint from customer William Gillis primarily relies on Internet reports of problems as the foundation of its argument and asserts that leaked information contradicts public statements by either of the defendant companies regarding 3G network performance,” Malley reports.
“Gillis particularly criticizes AT&T. Although company new media representative Brad Mays has gone on record as saying the iPhone 3G has been ‘performing great’ on its 3G network, the plaintiff counters by pointing to claims that the handset has required too much power. In tandem with the ‘high volume’ of iPhones sold, the sheer signal demand has bombarded AT&T and in many cases kicks users down to the EDGE-based 2G network even when 3G coverage is guaranteed, according to the lawsuit,” Malley reports.
Full article here.
Basing a lawsuit on Internet reports, rumors, and speculation is likely to be specious at best and frivolous at worse. Apple should countersue for all costs incurred. Furthermore, the U.S. really should consider some sort of meaningful tort reform if fishing expeditions like this are allowed under current laws.
Newsflash: new software combined with multiple-millions of devices being unleashed onto a network in a very short period of time will likely result in issues that require tuning. That is what we believe is happening at this time. iPhone 3G was released in the U.S. on July 11, 2008 – less than two months ago! Apple and their carriers really should be given an adequate and realistic amount of time to tune their software and networks before any lawsuits are filed.
Shakespeare was right!
@macaholic
Shakespeare was right!
Okay (sigh), I’ll bite. How was Shakespeare right?
The biggest problem is that these people are just plain babies, and daddy was missing in action. They need to grow the fsck up.
@El Guapo
“Kill all the lawyers”.
you would think it is public knowledge that apple has over 20 BILLION in cash no debt?
…they sold too many – sue them!
With the current situation of AT&T;’s data service being down nationwide, I’m beginning to see that this lawsuit may have some merit. This downtime is brutal.
” Kill everyone of them ” and don’t allow them to breed future ambulance chasers. No question that we should make idiots pay for frivolous lawsuits, which delay real victims from getting their day in court. No wonder Congress is so screwed up … how many of them are lawyers ? answer: too many.
I don’t care who is to blame or what the problem is, just fix the friggin problem already. I have given up trying 3G and run only on Edge now. The only thing that 3G seem to do better for me wicked fast is drain the battery.
On a related note, did anyone else have a problem with both the 3G and Edge networks this morning? I couldn’t load webpages or check email for over an hour.
How about suing the US Government?
They after all passed legislation that has allowed for this fiasco to happen. If they had insisted on the best form of communication as a standard and then protected the different operators so that they wouldn’t loose market share to undercutting rivals, America would have a similar system to Europe or Japan.
Now that these flaws have been exposed by the introduction of technology that makes full use of 3G bandwidth, perhaps they will now pay close attention to the fact that protectionism in a capitalistic environment has resulted in stifled progress and do something about it.
In the meantime, if every innovative product was to be greeted with lawsuits because the product did not deliver from day one, then it goes to say that the goose that lays the golden egg (innovation) will be killed or else move elsewhere away from the USA to perhaps China or the Asian continent.
Contingency legal fees need to be made unethical by the state bar associations. If the legal profession will not regulate itself however, then the states need too.
Somebody on the internet complained, so I need money.
Wow, what an argument!
Whoa there! SLOW DOWN this here thing called progress….
We don’t want no advancement round here…
Laughable.
i’m gonna sue because i went to new jersey one time and it sucked!
Crabapple…
I’m not making excuses, but unfortunately, the land mass of the US makes it much more difficult to wire, or wirelessly cover the entire thing. Or even just the major metro areas, because of the number, size and distances between. Japan and Europe are smaller, so it’s easier to create a pervasive network.
Clearly our Gummint has “other priorities” than serving the citizenry. (can of worms stays closed)
I’ve spent quite a bit of time in Bulgaria and you can literally get a good cell phone signal ANYWHERE. Bulgaria is 42,820 square miles, which is about the same size as Virginia.
“even when 3G coverage is guaranteed”
Where the hell is that?
Can we sue William Gillis for clogging the news media?
They do know that the iPhone is not the only 3G phone don’t they?
Since they are other 3G phones out there, it is highly unlikely that it is the 3G iPhone that is responsible for AT&T;’s 3G network issues.
should this be an AT&T;only suit? why does apple take the blame? can we sue the car companies for selling too many cars and now there is no gas? wait… maybe we can
@ Mr. Reeee
Point taken, by your same argument, what is stopping Virginia, Ohio, Texas, Nevada, Colorado or Wisconsin from adopting a single standard?
If each state were to adopt a single standard, the there would be room for some innovative company to introduce software that would translate the differing standards so that interoperability would be possible albiet at a slightly higher price. Remember Rosetta?
Finally, I imagine that the troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, On Battleships, Submarines are somehow communicating to home on a global scale? If various sub-branches of the US government can communicate easily from around the World, what is stopping the US from communicating internally just as easily?
Watch out Ford, GM and the other car manufacturers. If this works, you are next. You sell us these cars that are shown to reach highway speeds and then you flood the market and the highways turn into parking lots!
Why would anyone even try to file a lawsuit against Apple for a carriers temporary inability to absorb growing traffic in some parts of their network. Did AT&T;say that they would not work on or fix this? The legal action should be if you can’t handle the traffic, let us use another carrier!
Hortense recommends the Shakespeare addicts should read the book “Kill All the Lawyers” by William Deverrell, a great Canadian author whose works are addictive. Too bad his books aren’t readily available in Canadian bookstores.
His latest book is entitled “Kill All The Judges” , go to
http://www.deverell.com/ if you don’t believe Hortense.
Deverell’s book “Street Legal” was made into two tv series, one in Canada, one in NZ.
I, Derek of Milan, would like to say that:
One – its a frivolous lawsuit based on the knowledge that a company may settle to make you go away, and save court costs.
Two – William Deverell is a very average writer, which is why his books arent readily available even in Canadian bookstores.
HOW you connect Shakespeare to Deverell is beyond my understanding.
I guess along the lines of ” I saw a Rolls Royce yesterday and now I am going to buy a kitten”
Cognitive dissonance has its place, it seems.
These lawsuits aren’t about whatever dimwit it is that actually filed them, they are just a way to get the voice of all the dull product makers in the news, because they don’t have anything interesting or new to present in the way of products. They have to resort to badmouthing Apple.
who knew sales would be so good.