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AT&T Threatens iPhone Unlocking Company
Monday, August 27th, 2007 at 8:25 AM - by
iphoneunlocking.com, a division of UniquePhones, was planning on launching a software-based service for unlocking Apple's iPhone on Saturday. The rollout never happened, and the company is claiming that possible legal threats from AT&T are to blame.
UniquePhones stated that the company received a phone call from a law firm in Menlo Park, California, that was representing AT&T. The firm claimed that the iPhone unlock the company was planning to offer potentially constituted "copyright infringement and illegal software dissemination."
Just like the unlock services UniquePhones offers for other brands of cell phones, this iPhone unlock would have allowed Apple's combination iPod and smart phone to work with any cell carrier service, and not just AT&T.
In the United States, the digital millennium copyright act allows users to unlock their cell phone so it can be used with any carrier. UniquePhones is looking into the legal ramifications of offering its service to U.S. customers.
For now, the company's iPhone unlock service is on hold.
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