Legal worries delay release of iPhone unlocking software
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(InfoWorld) - Fear of litigation has led to an indefinite delay in theÂ planned Saturday release of software to unlock Apple Inc.'s iPhone. John McLaughlin, founder of Uniquephones, based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, said Saturday that he received a phone call about 3 a.m. Saturday local time from a man claiming to be from O'Melveny & Myers LLP, an international law firm, calling on behalf of AT&T. The firm has worked with Apple in the past. The man informed McLaughlin that if he posted the unlock code, he could be sued for copyright infringement and for dissemination of Apple's intellectual property (IP). McLaughlin was not completely awake when he took the call and did not get the full name of the person on the other end, he said. The man presented "friendly advice," but because of the timing of the call and the fact that it came on a personal mobile phone that McLaughlin never uses for business, it felt more threatening than friendly. "If he wants to give me advice, he could have sent me an e-mail," McLaughlin said. Spokespeople with O'Melveny & Myers, AT&T Wireless and Apple could not be immediately reached for comment Saturday. McLaughlin and his team had planned to release software by 2 p.m. EDT that he claims would unlock the iPhone so it could work with SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards from carriers other than AT&T Wireless. Uniquephones set up the Web siteÂ right after the iPhone's release on June 29 and had been working on the software since then. McLaughlin is concerned that fighting a lawsuit with AT&T or Apple would sink his small company, which does a modestly successful business unlocking wireless handsets in the U.K. and Europe. At the same time, he and engineers in several countries have invested time and money to come up with the unlock software. "It really annoys me," he said. "We have the solution sitting there and we have the customers there, but if you connect the two you could lose everything." About 550,000 people have signed up on Uniquephones' iPhone unlocking site as of Saturday afternoon in the U.K. McLaughlin said he still plans to release the software eventually, but is not sure when. "We'd be happy to let another company take the heat and be the second or third company to post [the software]," he said. In addition to Uniquephones' software, there have been two other reports of ways the iPhone can be unlocked. On Friday, blogger George Hotz posted a step-by-step tutorial for unlocking the iPhone that involves both hardware and software modifications. At another site, www.iPhoneSimFree.com, a company claims it can unlock iPhones through software only. The iPhone has been a hot target for unlocking since its launch, both because of its advanced design and features and because AT&T has an unusual long-term exclusive relationship with Apple. It's common for U.S. mobile operators to lock the phones they sell, but in some cases they will later unlock the phones free or for a small fee.
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(InfoWorld) - One of the groups that claims it has developed an unlock hack for Apple's iPhone is now saying it will only offer the software to resellers, not to individuals, a popular technology blog reported Monday. According to an e-mail message sent to interested volume sellers -- and posted by Engadget Monday -- iPhoneSIMFree said it would not sell the unlock directly to iPhone owners. "iphonesimfree.com is a wholesale only company," read the e-mail. "Although we could, we do not and will not sell directly to end-users because we want to work together with our valuable resellers as a team and not interfere in their business." Late last month, iPhoneSIMFree said it had created software that would let iPhone owners make calls on mobile networks other than AT&T, the smart phone's official and exclusive carrier in the U.S. Unlocking the iPhone is contrary to Apple's intent; according to the company, iPhones must be activated only with AT&T, and buyers must subscribe to a two-year AT&T calling plan. Even so, Apple has made no public announcement about iPhoneSIMFree or any other of several unlocking schemes that have been publicized. iPhoneSIMFree's e-mail also outlined the unlock process and spelled out its pricing structure. The unlock requires that a file be installed on the iPhone and a connection made to the iPhoneSIMFree servers; the latter, said iPhoneSIMFree, links the specific iPhone to the unlock. Resellers will handle part of the process. Prices will range from $25 per unlock (in lots of 5,000 or more) to $36 (in lots of 50). The company, which has no mailing address, has kept its composition and the identity of its developers, under wraps. Its Web site, for example, uses an anonymity service to cloak the usual address, phone number, and contact person information searchable via WHOIS. iPhoneSIMFree also said it would not guarantee that the unlock would work in the future. "It does currently work on all firmware versions, up to and including, 1.02," said iPhoneSIMFree in the e-mail quoted by Engadget. "We will naturally try to provide our resellers an updated version of our software for each firmware update, it is in our interest, but we do NOT guarantee that we will be able to do so." Apple's iPhone updates have required users who installed hacks or work-arounds to restore their devices from scratch, which erased the modifications. The most recent update, 1.0.2, however, did not cripple most hacks as had the first firmware update. An Irish company that announced another unlock has been silent on the subject for a week. UniquePhones last mentioned its iPhone unlock on Aug. 28 when it posted video of an unlock in progress. Prior to that, UniquePhones had said it would start selling its unlock Aug. 25 but backed off after receiving a phone call it said came from a California law firm representing AT&T. Another unlock, a Czech product dubbed TurboSIM, is currently unavailable; its maker's Web ordering site had been inundated, and now sports messages such as "Sorry, temporarily closed" beside the unlock product. Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate
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A controversial new law that could signal trouble ahead for independent programmers is delayed again.
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Most U.S. carriers profit from consumer ignorance about the locking issue. But the iPhone controversy is changing all that. It's time consumers demand unlocked cell phones from their carriers.
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Developers are eagerly awaiting the release of Apple's software development kit for the iPhone later this month. The SDK, many believe, will give programmers access to a wide range of the phone's features.
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Apple's recent decision to forbid the use of Apple Store gift cards for iPhone sales may expose the company to class action lawsuits or state-led investigations. Is this anti-iPhone locking action one step too far for the company?
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Apple Inc  said on Monday  that programs available on the Internet to unlock its iPhone  and enable it to work with service providers other than AT&T's  Cingular network could cause irreparable damage to the device.
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Apple announces an iPhone software developer's kit will be released in February. But hackers already have their own sophisticated SDK for getting code on the iPhone, including viruses, Trojans and the ability to snoop on audio and video.
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By Ryan Blitstein, San Jose Mercury News, Calif.  Feb. 1--Cisco Systems is giving Apple until Feb. 15 to respond to a lawsuit over the trademark to the name "iPhone," according to a federal court document filed late Wednesday.
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Company hasn't said when the device will be available.
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Hackers have figured out how to unleash Apple's iPhone from AT&amp;T's cellular network, but people hoping to make money from the procedure could face legal problems.
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By Ryan Blitstein, San Jose Mercury News, Calif.  Feb. 2--Cisco Systems is giving Apple until Feb. 15 to respond to a lawsuit over the trademark to the name "iPhone," according to a federal court document filed late Wednesday.
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Apple on Wednesday confirmed rumors that it will release a mobile software development kit (SDK) for developers in February so that third parties can create applications for the iPhone and the iPod touch.&quot;We want native third party applications on the iPhone, and we plan to have an SDK in developers&#39; hands in February,&quot; according to a post attributed to Apple CEO Steve Jobs on the company&#39;s Web site.The news should placate irked mobile developers who have already been busy building applications for the iPhone without Apple&#39;s approval. Tech-savvy users have been able to customize their phones with new software, at least until Apple put the kibosh on this activity with an iPhone update in September that erased all unauthorized applications from the device. The company did, however, post a list of approved Web-based applications for the iPhone on its Web site last week to discourage users from hacking into the device to add new applications.It will take Apple until February to come out with an SDK because the company is trying to&#160;create an open platform&#160;so developers can write applications accessing the most advanced iPhone features, as well as a secure environment that isn&#39;t prone to viruses, worms, or other&#160;security threats, Jobs wrote.&quot;This is no easy task,&quot; he wrote. &quot;Some claim that viruses and malware are not a problem on mobile phones -- this is simply not true. There have been serious viruses on other mobile phones already, including some that silently spread from phone to phone over the cell network. As our phones become more powerful, these malicious programs will become more dangerous.&quot;Jobs noted that other handset providers, such as Nokia, are not allowing applications to be loaded onto some of their new phones unless they have a digital signature that can be traced to a legitimate developer.&quot;While this makes such a phone less than &quot;totally open,&quot; we believe it is a step in the right direction,&quot; he wrote.
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Hackers asked to restore iEunuch's dignity Comment Within hours of last week's iPhone debut, hackers were dissecting it. Their goal: unlock capabilities Apple preferred customers not have. As a result, it's now possible to activate the device without entering into a two-year contract, and it's only a matter of time until you can run third-party apps.â¦
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Video shows it working? A utility claimed to be the world's first software tool for unlocking the Apple iPhone was launched yesterday, even as hardware hackers said they'd figured out how to get the same result by tweaking the gadget itself.â¦
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Blog: Security was reportedly tight as the iPhones get ready to make their stateside debut this Friday.
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Blog: After some false starts, unlocking an iPhone now seems to be a reality.