AT&T works to fix iPhone activation woes
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While blogs continue to simmer with complaints from people who waited months to buy an iPhone and now are experiencing problems activating it, AT&amp;T Inc. said Sunday that the situation has improved.
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Apple Inc.'s  iPhone may be too expensive for most Americans, but the much-hyped device is expected to help AT&T Inc.  win quality customers and drive shoppers into its stores.
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(InfoWorld) - Hackers who unlock Apple's iPhone from the AT&T network and share the method with 10 million of their closest Internet friends are inviting a lawsuit from the two companies, several intellectual property (IP)Â lawyers said Monday. Apple and AT&T may have a legal case against unlockers under the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), especially if they try to sell software code or devices that unlock the iPhone, the lawyers said. But the legal landscape gets a bit complicated -- there's a legal exception to the DMCA's anticircumvention provisions that allows individual mobile phone users to unlock their devices for use on other networks. So figuring out how to unlock the iPhone yourself is not likely to be a DMCA violation, most of the IP lawyers said. But posting instructions or code online, even for free, may earn you a cease-and-desist letter from an unfriendly lawyer, and selling software or a device that unlocks the phone is inviting trouble, most of the lawyers said. But there's plenty of disagreement among IP lawyers about the interpretation of the DMCA. "It's an extremely grey [area], because I don't think the exemption was altogether clear," said Bart Showalter, an intellectual property lawyer in Dallas with the Baker Botts LLP law firm. "The idea of trying to use copyright to, in a sense, establish exclusivity in a service contract ... is going to be an interesting thing to watch." John McLaughlin, founder of Uniquephones, based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, had planned to release software Saturday that wouldÂ allow users to unlock their iPhone. But early Saturday morning, McLaughlin said he received a phone call from a man saying he was from a law firm representing AT&T. The caller saidÂ McLaughlin could be sued for copyright infringement. Two other groups have claimed to have unlocked the iPhone. Representatives of both AT&T and Apple declined to comment Monday on possible legal actions against unlockers. Showalter suggested that unlocking the iPhone and posting code or instructions for free would likely fall under the exception to the DMCA's anticircumvention provisions, thus protecting the unlocker from legal action. The exception allows circumvention of device controls "for the sole purpose of lawfully connecting to a wireless telephone communication network," according to language from the U.S. registrar of copyrights. So if a hacker unlocks the iPhone, then posts the unlocking code for free, he's engaging in a legal activity and enabling others to engage in the same legal activity, said Michael Lewis, an IP lawyer with Fox Rothschild LLP. If that hacker is sued, he could probably argue that posting of the unlocking code is protected by free speech provisions in U.S. law, according to Lewis. Other IP lawyers disagreed. Movie studios have successfully sued Web site operators for distributing the DeCSS DVD-copying code, noted Carole Handler, an IP lawyer with Foley and Lardner LLP. The unlocker of the iPhone who posts code online could be held liable for secondary copyright infringement, she said. "I don't see that [Apple and AT&T] have a choice," Handler said. "They have to do something. If you don't protect your intellectual property, it's gone." Lewis' colleague, Gerry Norton, agreed, saying the unlocking exception was narrowly written. "The exception was just for the end-user," he said. Most of the lawyers agreed that selling software to unlock the iPhone, as McLaughlin was planning to do, would invite a lawsuit under the DMCA. "The courts seem to have less sympathy for people who are doing things to make a buck," Lewis said. But there wasn't even unanimous agreement on the legal liability of selling unlocking software. If the software being distributed targeted only the network lock on the iPhone, the developer could have a defense, Showalter said. "It does seem a little unusual to me that they say somebody can unlock their phone, but if someone tells them how to do it, that's a violation of the DMCA," he said. "If the software that's being sold is only doing the minimum amount that's necessary to allow it to interoperate with other services, you may have some support in the DMCA exception." Beyond the legal questions about unlocking the iPhone, Apple and AT&T could face their own legal challenges, Handler said. The exclusive contract between the two companies could lead to an antitrust lawsuit if a competitor or customer could successfully argue there's no other device like the iPhone available on the market, she said. "Consumers want new technology," she said. "This is the era of the consumer controlling the media. When the consumer is told he or she can't do something, they get pretty upset, and they start claiming conspiracy, antitrust, and the whole bit."
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Hackers claim 'very significant progress' toward making Apple's iPhone work with carriers other than AT&T.
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Although iPhoneSIMFree announced last week that it had devised a software unlock that would allow iPhones to work on networks other than AT&T, it only plans to sell the solution to resellers -- not individual iPhone owners.
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Blog: If you're thinking of changing carriers to AT&#38;T to get Apple's iPhone, there are some things you should know. We detail them here.
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AT&T Inc said on Monday delays in activating service for customers of Apple Inc iPhone had been mostly resolved after the wireless company worked out the problems on a case-by-case basis.
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IPhone owners who have unlocked their handsets so they could use carriers other than AT&amp;T Inc. may end up with a phone that doesn't work after the company's next software update, Apple Inc. warned Monday.
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Blog: Group claims it can unbind the iPhone from a specific carrier to "expand the functionality" of the device.
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Blog: Rumors emerge that the iPhone will be avaialble to prepaid AT&T users.
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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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The rush to buy the iPhone strained the company's servers, leaving a lot of customers unable to activate their phones.
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Delays in AT&T's phone activation system left some people unable to use their new toy throughout the weekend.
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Trying to get your iPhone unlocked and working on a non-AT&T network? If you're not a supergeek, you've probably found the unlocking processes are not ready for the average Joe. We've put a stub of a "jailbreak" procedure on the How To Wiki, so help us update it. Luckily, a one-click package installer is on the way.
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More than a quarter of US iPhones have been "unlocked" to work on rival networks, a study says.
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Blog: AT&T's iPhone activation numbers disappointed many--especially Apple investors--but it's not a perfect measure of iPhone demand.
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With AT&T reportedly having activated over 600,000 iPhones as of Monday, it's no surprise that European carriers are eager to jump on Apple's bandwagon. Numerous reports have pointed to wireless carrier O2 being chosen as Apple's exclusive iPhone partner in the United Kingdom.