Apple Faces Lawsuit Over iPhone Locking

Apple is facing a possible class-action lawsuit in the USA over its decision to lock their iPhone handset to work with the AT&T network. Speculative attorney Damian Fernandez filed the law on behalf of a California man and is seeking "class action" status to expand the litigation to cover all US iPhone buyers.

The lawsuit claims that by locking the handset to the AT&T network - and reimposing the blocks on unlocked handsets with subsequent software changes - that the company is creating an illegal monopoly.

"Apple punished consumers for exercising their rights to unlock their iPhones," Fernandez says in court documents, adding "Apple issued a software update that 'bricked' or otherwise caused iPhone malfunctions for consumers who unlocked their phones and installed the update."

The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages and a requirement that Apple honours the warranty of all handset which have had their software edited by 3rd parties to allow the handset to be used on other networks.

The legal firm has also set up a website to try and encourage people to join in the class-action lawsuit.

On the web: www.appleiphonelawsuit.com

Posted to the site on 10th October 2007