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Bricked iPhones With 'Error 53' Just Cost Apple $6.7 Million in Australia (betanews.com)
Apple has been hit with an AUS $9 million ($6.7 million) fine for misleading customers in Australia. More than two years ago Apple started to "brick" iPhones that had been fixed at non-authorized third-party repairers, generating an Error 53. From a report: Apple admitted to intentionally preventing certain repaired iPhones and iPads from working for security reasons, but later apologized and issued a fix. However, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) sued Apple for "misleading or deceptive conduct," and now an Australian court has hit the iPhone-maker with a multi-million dollar fine.
I don't think you understand "bricked".
When something is "bricked", it can then do anything a brick can, and nothing the bricks can't.
Bricks can't be given a "fix" that turns them into a smartphone.
Maybe this will give "right to repair" some teeth.
Do they realize that a mosquito bit is more annoying to the decision makers at Apple then having to pay a $6.7 million dollar fine? This is hardly a deterrent, they need to add a few extra zeros to that before Apple will change any behavior.
The fine appears pointless since Apple has billions in cash and such a paltry fine will do little to discourage similar behavior in the future.
If you do something like this as an individual? That is, purposefully destroy something of someone's, for profit? And in a fraudulent way? And then publicly lie about it, further compounding things?
You'd be called a fucking psychopath, and fines wouldn't be the equiv of a cup of coffee. Hell, this fine is the same as .. well, less than a penny in a normal person's pocket.
What would happen to a *person*? After all, corporations have greater freedoms, powers, and abilities as they've been legally defined as 'persons' in most commonwealth nations. So -- if that's the case?
Well.. a person might see jail, but would certainly be hit with a life crippling fine.
Is this life crippling? Does this make Apple reel with the implications, tottering on personal bankruptcy? The fine or the jail time would, for something like this, for 'just a real person'.
Corporations need to be *deathly afraid* of running afoul of the law. Fire people without morals, that skirt legalities, because otherwise? They'll be bankrupt.
This fine should have been in the billion dollar range, because Apple has billions in the bank.
And the same should be so, for any corp that willingly steals and defrauds people.
Should have made it 6.7 billion to make them notice. 6.7 million is morning coffee for the legal team.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
anything about court costs or legal fees in addition to the fine, which seems to be a slap on the wrist...
apple is definitely up for a slap in the face. after applying to be an apple repair center for nearly 2 years and reply and reply, waiting and waiting... they came back and said.. no.. we are shutting down and getting rid of 3rd party authorized repair centers -- say what?
sounds like the John Deere & Apple legal issue. -- is it my tractor or not? why can't i fix it myself?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/mar/06/nebraska-farmers-right-to-repair-john-deere-apple
rotten bastards..doh! it's ok.. i do appreciate the innovation though..
No beef wellington on the menu at the campus cafe this week, got to tighten our belts.
The courts can't hold apple accountable for third party repairs that weren't within the spec of the official original parts used.
You repaired your phone with a substandard part, so what if it works for *THAT* IOS version - it's not going to work for any future versions if apple decide to fully utilise that part's speed/capabilities, and apple can't know the shit parts third party repairers are going to try to pass-off as working.
Let me iterate that again - the spec on the replacement part has changed, to that of a lower specification which *appears* to work. A typical 'car' analogy would be you getting to sue GM because your aftermarket fuel filter fucked the engine over after another 10k miles.
This is going to come back to bite a lot of people, and those people, like apple, should be getting this decision by the aussie courts reversed asap, as it's going to set a precedent alright, and cause a shitstorm for all kinds of things (healthcare, cars, houses, etc ,etc). I look forward to reading the aussie fallout from this
What is $7M to Apple?
Apple had dealer only tools needed to pair parts that they did not give to 3rd party shops. That is the issue and is the same issue with cars.
What if GM had an change oil light that needed an dealer only tool to reset?
Apples are more expensive, and the hardware is generally less beefy than what you get from top of the line Android manufacturers. That said, you get support, which has to be paid for. With Android, you get a device with 18 months of support once the design phase has been completed. So, if you plop down for a brand new, top of the line or mid-tier Android, it's end-of-life is easily 2 years. With somewhat equivalent Apples, you get 3 to 4 years. I'd prefer an Android vendor to step up, and I'd like to put my money behind one, but I just cannot. Even Google says that 18 to 24 months for a flagship device is totally acceptable. They recently dropped support for the Nexus line of phones (including the 5X and 6P) and tablets that were released when the iPhone 6s was new. Meanwhile, the iPhone 5s released more than a year prior, is still supported by Apple.
TL;DR
The choice is yours. Choose wisely.
Assuming an average cost/revenue of $700, $6.7M USD is just above 9,500 iPhones.
Per Google search, they sell about 590 per MINUTE (4th quarter last year on average).
So that's about 16 minutes of sales:
https://www.google.com/search?...
They were probably laughing while lounging on their yachts that cost more than the settlement.
BlameBillCosby.com
7 million dollars.
Wow.
Apple spends more than that on TOILET PAPER!
Their annual revenues are north of 200 BILLION and have been since 2015.
This isn't even a slap on the wrist.
This is more of a smiling "tsk tsk tsk" while shaking a "naughty naughty" finger at them.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
I agreed. Not nearly enough.
Lets hope all the other countries that sell iphones fine apple for the same amount.
Since GM actually has plenty of "oil light" related tools that only dealers have access to .... what is your point again?
In fact, they now have troubleshooting tools that are only accessible by special techs and dealers have to schedule the techs, hook up a specialized rugged computer that connects to the internet and then they walk away. They don't even know what data the techs are accessing. The dealer only gets a final report once the techs are done ... and sometimes not even that.
This should fall under the statutes relating to the destruction of private property or theft of private property.
You should compare Android phones to iPhone not to Apple which is the company as everyone knows.
In the case of iPhone, that is premium price on high-end hardware which is well supported.
6.7 million USD? Is that a joke? Apple probably spends more on cardboard packaging than that, a year.
In the face of such a horrifically crippling punishment, I'm fully confident Apple will never ever try anything shady again!
Here's the real story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
In Australia 3rd line forcing is also illegal. That is saying you can only buy or or get parts/service/repair from our company. So, they missed being fined for that at the same time. So is price fixing /price collusion, for repairs as well. Oh well, maybe they will follow through.
The fine isn't big enough. It needs more zeros
If you gave me a choice between a printer and a giraffe with explosive diarrhoea, i'll get my ladder and my raincoat
...sentencing the criminals at Apple who did this to some hard time at "guard your bung-hole" prison?
If people from Ford came over to my driveway, and smashed my Mustang up with sledgehammers "for security reasons", that's exactly where they would be going!