iPhone lawsuit

 

A lawsuit against Apple and AT&T over their exclusivity contract has been granted class action status, meaning it now includes anyone who bought an iPhone between June 29, 2007, and present day and signed up for AT&T service

An amended complaint filed in June 2008 takes issue with Apple's practice of "locking" iPhones so they can only be used on AT&T's network, and its absolute control over what applications iPhone owners can and cannot install on the gadgets.
The lawsuit also says Apple secretly made AT&T its exclusive iPhone partner in the U.S. for five years. Consumers agreed to two-year contracts with the Dallas-based wireless carrier when they purchased their phones, but were in effect locked into a five-year relationship with AT&T, the lawsuit argued.
The actions hurt competition and drove up prices for consumers, the lawsuit claims.

Also raised in the lawsuit are claims that AT&T bills for “phantom data” (here’s an example of such a claim on the AT&T support forum where 2.2MB of data per week was being charged for an iPhone that had all push notifications, location-based services, and active applications turned off, and where no email accounts were set up on the handset.
Hendricks is seeking class action status on the complaint, along with restitution and class damages.
"Almost immediately after the purchase of their iPhone 4 devices, both McCaffrey and Wrinn began to experience significantly reduced reception and performance when handling the phones as demonstrated in Apple's advertisements or as a reasonable person would handle a mobile telephone while making phone calls, browsing the Internet, sending text messages, or utilizing other services provided by the iPhone 4," the suit said.
The suit pointed to advertisements promising improved reception and improved service overall as examples of both companies' deceptive trade practices.
The duo cannot return their phones without incurring a re-stocking fee, the court said. Apple charges a 10 percent re-stocking fee on any opened hardware or accessory, according to its Web site.
As a result, McCaffrey and Wrinn are suing for damages "and other remedies."
Overall, the suit accuses Apple of defect in design, manufacturer, and assembly as well as breach of express warranty. Apple and AT&T are accused of general negligence, breach of warranty, deceptive trade practices, intentional misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, and fraud by concealment.
In related news, there are also rumors that a California lawsuit is prepping an iPhone 4 class-action suit of its own. Gawker posted a link to the Web site for law firm Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff, which is looking for people who are having iPhone 4 reception problems.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction to keep Apple from selling locked iPhones in the U.S. and from determining what iPhone programs people can install. It also seeks damages to cover legal fees and other costs.