| By iPhone News Desk |
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| October 10, 2007 03:30 PM EDT |
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The Apple iPhone, which has already come under intense criticism for failing to allow third-party programs and for its incompatibility with the Flash
and Java platforms, has a new challange to overcome in the form of a class-action lawsuit filed against it by a California resident claiming Apple is in violation of California antitrust laws by limiting iPhone to AT&T's network only.
Timothy Smith's suit claims that, thanks to a provision in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) allowing any user to ask carrier-subsidized phones to be unlocked 90 days after purchase, unlocking must be legal.
As has been widely reported, various unlocking solutions are currently circulating on the Internet. Some are based purely on software and require no hardware modifications.
Writing in an online journal, Tim Wu recently opined: "I did just throw down more than $400 for this little toy," continuing: "I'm no property-rights freak, but that iPhone is now my personal property, and that ought to stand for something."
Apple's claim is that unlocking an iPhone is a violation of its terms of service, of which users are made aware via an
on-screen contract.
Wu notes, wistfully: " As economist Eric Von Hippel teaches in
Democratizing Innovation, much product improvement comes from users who monkey with and enhance the products they use every day. "
Apple hasn't swallowed the Von Hippel kool-aid just yet, it seems.
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