Apple May Be Breaking the Law With Policy On iPhone Unlocks

an anonymous reader writes "Apple's recent decision to void warranties for folks that unlocked their iPhones may wind them up in legal hot water. The site Phone News points out that Apple appears to have broken a key warranty law relevant to SIM unlocks. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, a law decades old, would seem to prevent Apple from voiding warranties in the way it is threatening to do with the iPhone, or so the site argues. 'The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act states that Apple cannot void a warranty for a product with third-party enhancements or modifications to their product. The only exception to this rule is if Apple can determine that the modification or enhancement is responsible [for] damaging the product in question ... The legal [questions are]: Is the SIM Unlock process that has become mainstream doing damage to iPhone? And, also, is Apple designing future software updates to do damage to iPhone when said SIM Unlock code is present?'"

Comments

Find the bias

[stewbacca]

The bias is always found right in the slashdot contributor's "summary" of the article, and this article is no exception:

And, also, is Apple designing future software updates to do damage to iPhone when said SIM Unlock code is present?'"

Yeah, slightly cynical. And of course Apple PR has already spun (if you must maintain your bias) the fact that will not proactively make iPhones not work. HOWEVER, given the tight integration of the phone with iTunes, any reasonable customer would expect ANY deviation from that successful model to cause problems with the phone's functionality.

Consumers who want to jack up their iPhones by HACKING it, don't deserve consumer rights. As far as unlocking the sim card...caveat emptor. You should have known before you bought the phone that you get AT&T and that's it.

Re:Why this is probably wrong

[diamondsw]

Come on. We, and Apple, just are not that stupid.

Apparently you are.