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AT&T and iPhone in Class Action Lawsuit Over Monopoly

AT&T and iPhone in Class Action Lawsuit Over Monopoly

A new iPhone class action lawsuit is being filed against AT&T, the Dallas-based wireless carrier and its iPhone due to a federal judge claiming monopoly abuse. This iPhone class action suit is finally being put into action after a few years of other lawsuits that were filed by buyers of the iPhone dating back to late 2007. This began only a few months after the first generation of Apple’s smart phone went on sale to the public market.

The issue being disputed here is over complaints that Apple iPhones can only be used on the AT&T networks. Why? Because Apple locks their iPhones so that they have absolute control over what applications iPhone users can install and put on their phones. Without the key to unlock the phones (not available to buyers), iPhone users are limited to staying on the AT&T network only.

This “locking” issue was put in the iPhone law suit as an amended complaint.

The iPhone lawsuit also includes verbage saying that Apple secretly made AT&T its exclusive iPhone partner in the U.S. for the past five years. Buyers of the iPhone were mandated to agree to two-year contracts with the AT8T when they purchased their phones, hence, attempting to keep these buyer as customers of AT8T for fear of facing a monetary penalty for leaving. The two year deal, was not for two years; however, but in fact tricked the consumers into thinking it was for two year, when in fact it was a contract for five years. The argument involved the non-disclosure of the whole truth regarding time commitment to AT8T. The action ensured a loss of business for competing companies and at the same time, raised the prices for consumers. This is what the lawsuit is claiming.

Apple and AT&T have not commented; however, Cupertino, California-based Apple denied that the company hurt competition. Apple has sold more than 50 million iPhones in the last three years internationally, but did not disclose the number of units sold domestically.

The iPhone class action suit involves anyone who purchased an iPhone since 2007 and signed a two year contract with AT8T. The Apple law suit is seeking an injunction so that Apple becomes prohibited from putting locks on phones to limit their access to other phone carriers and to also allow iPhone owners to download any applications they choose. The iPhone lawsuit also is seeking restitution to cover legal fees and other miscellaneous costs.

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