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Can Apple + AT&T Shut Down iPhone Unlockers?
aalobode writes "Do Apple and AT&T have the legal right to stop hackers from selling unlocked iPhones? Under their terms, only AT&T may sell iPhones, and Apple gets a commission. When unlocked iPhones are used on other providers' networks, AT&T and hence Apple get nothing beyond what they earned on the initial sale of the hardware. Can they prohibit unlocking? Reselling? The article in Businessweek gives the for and against arguments, but leans toward the view that the hackers may have the law on their side for once."
Apple is already laughing all the way to the bank, selling phones that cost $200 to produce for triple that price.
Obama likes poor people so much, he wants to make more of them.
Of course you can, but the problem is that that's not what happened.
If you only took the hardware, completely erased all the software (up to OS, bootloader, whatever), and then installed something else from scratch, that'd be fine (at least I think so).
But the guy who hacked it used the existing iPhone OS built in on the device in order to operate the phone. Even if all his modifications were hardware-based, he still uses the OS (which now gets signals from a separate piece of hardware) to make calls, use iPhone features, etc. And I'm pretty damn sure that getting a singal from anyone but AT&T (or, more generally, getting any signal to the OS other than those provided by Apple hardware) violates the software license agreement, so you infringe copyright.
Now, you may have a very good case for an ANTITRUST suit (hardware and software are different domains, so Apple shouldn't be allowed to force people to use one only if they use the other), but that's something that has to be decided in court, and you can't "preemptively" violate copyright just because you think the license agreement violates antitrust law. Besides, OSX being forced upon Macs was around for a while, and nobody could do anything about it.
it is unconstitutional to tell me that I can't use my device that I purchased where I want to. I think several countries in Europe made it illegal to lock phones like that...it's just not fair and contradicts other laws we passed in far more sensitive industries. Like telecom, AT&T has to collect equipment for phone service. I'm not limited to who I can buy gas from for my car. I'm not limited to my local monopoly for phone service...why can't I use my phone? it's not like it's programmed for a different frequency... or designed for a different network...it's intended to work on all GSM networks... screw the iphone anyway...I'm switching from verizon for this phone: http://www.sourcinggate.com/cect-touch-screen-mobi le-phone-triband-with-bluetooth-p-1055.html