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

Why?

[Frosty Piss]

Naturally, the whole thing is taken out of context as far as the law is concerned. This is what happens when non-lawyers hack up a plate of leagl code.

But even if it wasn't, I don't understand why certain sectors are frothing about this. The iPhone is a product and it's configured in a certain way at the factory to work a certain way. It's not "commodity" hardware, a generic phone. I just don't understand why, if you dink around with it's software, which is an integral part of its operation, its "total experience", why Apple shouldn't void the warranty. It's not the same thing they sold you, why should they be responsible for it?