Have you noticed all the hoopla surrounding the iPhone and unlocking it from AT&T? We just blogged about the first software based iPhone SIM unlock the other day. Today there are least 4 verified iPhone unlocking hacks out there and you bet there will be more now that hackers know that it can be done fairly easily.
AT&T has to be sick at the stomach right now. They sold their proverbial soul to get a 5 year exclusive on arguably the most hyped consumer electronics device in history only to find out, not two months later, the device can be unlocked from their network and used on which ever network the iPhone owner chooses. Rumor has it that AT&T is trying to go after the hackers, however, pretty much everyone is saying that the DMCA protects consumers from unlocking their phones so they can change carriers and use their devices on a new network.
What is really telling, however, is that Apple, to our knowledge, has yet to threaten any legal action. Even the most die-hard Apple fanboy would admit that Apple sues people at the drop of a hat for some of the most ridiculous reasons one can imagine so the fact that they have been quiet makes you wonder if they didn’t anticipate and on some level, even welcome this.
The iPhone isn’t subsidized with a service plan from AT&T. You pay full price when you pick one up at both the Apple or the AT&T store. How much does Apple really care if you unlock your iPhone and use it on a network other than AT&T? My guess is not much. This kind of makes me wonder if Apple played AT&T from the start.
Apple should care if you unlock it and use it with a different carrier. They are getting royalties from AT&T based on the number of subscribers with iPhones. They are not getting that from any other carrier, therefore, each unlocked device could be lost revenue to both AT&T and Apple. You can bet Apple will be making it very hard for non-AT&T subscribed deices to get updates, feature enhancements, etc. And you can also bet that each time Apple “fixes” an unlock method, hackers will figure out a way to get around it.
But you are correct…the company that gets screwed the most by an unlocked iPhone is AT&T, but they pretty much got screwed by Apple from the very beginning.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s long been obvious to most that iPhone would be unlocked; it was just a matter of time. So, of course, Jobs knew, after all, he’s like Josh Waitzkin on steroids: so many moves ahead it’s scary. Whether Jobs wants an unlocked iPhone or not, only he could say, but watching him toy with doofuses like Microsoft’s Ballmer, Verizon’s Denny Strigl, Real’s Glaser, et al. is so fun it borders on the criminal.
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/14724/
Does anyone who has a clue about wireless devices which some companies are stupid enough to spend money on locking think that the device wouldn’t be able to be unlocked? Apple knew it, At&t knew it, it’s amazing it took this long before the device was unlocked. Consumers want freedom, service providers are learning this everyday. Thanks to devices like the iPhone the message is now loud and clear.
IMO the Apple iPhone is still every bit the revolutionary new mobile device Apple claimed it was back in January ’07 when it was announced. The iPhone continues to drive the wireless industry forward. Which is why you never ever doubt what Mr. Steve Job’s says.
Cell phone unlocking legal
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061124-8280.html
“The Copyright Office allowed this exception because the software that prohibits users from accessing their phone’s firmware has little to do with copyright and much to do with a business model. “The underlying activity sought to be performed by the owner of the handset is to allow the handset to do what it was manufactured to do—lawfully connect to any carrier,” writes the government in explanation. “This is a noninfringing activity by the user… The purpose of the software lock appears to be limited to restricting the owner’s use of the mobile handset to support a business model, rather than to protect access to a copyrighted work itself.”
Also PROOF of this statement and some more discussion might help.
“AT&T has to be sick at the stomach right now. They sold their proverbial soul to get a 5 year exclusive on arguably the most hyped consumer electronics device in history only to find out, not two months later, the device can be unlocked from their network and used on which ever network the iPhone owner chooses.”
At&t is getting what they want out of Apple and the iPhone, customers and press they could never get otherwise. At&t, Apple and the iPhone have been buzz words all year and will continue for another 4 years. At&t still is the exclusive service provider and the bulk of consumers will continue to use at&t service on their unlocked iPhone’s.
AT&T should have seen this coming! Common, the most talked about phone in history, and hackers aren’t going to find a way to crack it? This should make AT&T work harder to give their customers a reason to stay. I was burned by them before, so I say if the hackers can make it work…so be it! And if I happen to buy an iPhone and use it on T-Mobile, well, that’s just tuff! Sorry AT&T!!
Will AT&T have a leg to stand on in court to prevent a company from selling the software hack to unlock the iPhone or are they threatening legal action hoping they can scare companies out of selling it?
Isnt the lack of a subsidized prize evidence that BOTH apple and at&t saw this coming? If at&t had subsidized the price to apple, they would be losing even more revenue. Or am i missing something?
First, from what I understand, even though it is legal for an individual to unlock their phone, it is not legal for a company to sell the unlock procedure. Hence, some are calling for it to be released to the public for free.
Second, it seems there are 2 hacks to unlock the iPhone, one involving both hardware and software alteration, and another claiming to involve only software. Either way, I don’t think most consumers willing to buy the iPhone from ATT will want to bother with such a hack and risk their phone and their warrantee. In fact, most consumers won’t even know how to go about getting their phone unlocked. We have to remember that those of us who read blogs like this one are far more aware of these things than the average consumer.
So I think the damage to ATT will be minimal; I mean,they still pay for exclusive rights to other phones, including BlackBerry’s, knowing full well that those will be able to be unlocked in a far more trivial fashion. They know that only a small percentage of their market will make use of the unlock codes.
What this mainly does is open up the door for those who otherwise would not purchase the iPhone due to the ATT service; many will now buy and use on their other network of choice. Apple certainly wins out on this, as they get more iPhone sales that otherwise would not have happened. As for ATT, I have a feeling that most of those people would not have bought the phone on ATT to begin with, so they are not necessarily losing out that much either.
I also echo the comments above that undoubtedly Apple and ATT will respond with future software updates, and so this will continue to be a game of one upmanship. Of course, that will only serve to limit the number of people who will want to go through the hassle of unlocking their phones, only to get them locked again, only to await the next unlock hack, etc.
This only makes me happy, though I don’t care to own an IPhone, I don’t like AT&T 1 bit. They screwed me before and I wouldn’t recommend their service to my worst enemy. But the way they conduct business in the eye of most consumers, including me, really sucks, so good for them. I don’t see why T-Mobile doesn’t get all the Berries first anyway. They are a way better carrier than AT&T.
The problem is that is not economically feasibly to prevent unlocking. Apple has to manufacture one piece of hardware to get costs as low as possible. To make unlocking impossible, the iPhone would need a ROM chip that told it that it was an AT&T phone. Same for the European carriers. This is a major manufacturing cost as now even work in progress inventory is segmented by carrier.
Any money made from preventing unlocking is not going to be worth the expense of a hardware lock. Thus everyone uses software locks that are in flash and thus breakable.
It was always a question of ‘when’ instead of ‘if’ and I’m sure both AT&T and Apple knew that.
Couldn’t happen to a douchery company.
Let’s also not forget that these unlocking techniques are still rather suspect as to their reliability, their impact on the iPhone, etc. After the flurry of hype, they have yet to really produce the product, and none seem like totally ready for prime time. Right now this unlock hack is just that: for rather diehard hackers.
The thing that we in the US forget is that we only have two GSM networks – AT&T and T-Mobile. So unlocking from one to go to the other, in my eye, aint that great of a change. It’s not like I can unlock the iPhone and use it with Verizon or Sprint as they are CDMA networks and wouldn’t work with the iPhone. The unlocking of the iPhone is good for those non-US customers that wanted the iPhone but didn’t want to wait for the official version to hit their country as the rest of the world has various GSM providers to select from.
Alex,
Not quite right… we have two nation-wide GSM networks but there are 60+ separate GSM networks in the US. As with most phones the device manufactures have many many good reasons why not to develop and manufacture for the dwindling, non-standard, proprietary, cdma market. No unlocking will help that.
Hellno,
You would make a good wireless industry lobbyist in DC. I don’t mean that as slight. My father-in-law is one and, at least from your writing, you’ve got the nack for it.
hellno, thanks for the update on the GSM situation here in the US. Say what you will about AT&T but they seem to getting all the love from the manufactures…ok, Apple and RIM, but getting love non-the-less.
Alex,
I don’t think it’s just at&t (but being GSM and the largest provider in the US sure doesn’t hurt) Nokia and Sony Ericsson don’t cater to at&t but they don’t do cdma much if at all.
If you were a mobile device manufacture who would you cater too? A standard, open, non-proprietary, global technology such as GSM with 2.5 billion plus consumers? or a dwindling, non-standard, proprietary, technology with about a 1/8 of the consumer base? There are many reasons why device manufactures don’t do cdma.
Make sure to checkout http://www.iphone-hacks.com for news if you are interested in unlocking your own iPhone. They will be sure to host whatever you need.
Yea, well, thats what people get for trying to hold us back. I am a firm believer in competition, and honestly, if AT&T had no competition, we would never see a drop in price or increase in the level of service for the Iphone.
Both companies knew this going into it! I think that Apple looked at it like this: If they sold the contract to cingular, then they could continue to sell the product at the same price without worries of the mobile companies pushing for price drops so they can get the better deal on the phones. Also, other features are locked down, such as warranty problems, insurance, etc. If there were competition with AT&T, then AT&T and every other company would be pushing Apple to offer them just a little more.
But like this article is saying…Apple knew that they could prevent this by selling the contract to AT&T, then it would easily be hacked (its basically a mini computer). Then they would get sales over a broad range of wireless providers without giving the wireless providers rights to the technology. Good move apple…
I still think that AT&T got plenty of marketing for being the only ones with the rights though.