Apple Trying Not To Give iPhone’s Source Code
Here’s a bunch of folks who really need all the luck they can get… because they are trying to get the source code for for the iphone: from Apple!
Then there’s the small matter of slapping Apple with a class action lawsuit…
We have a love hate relationship with class action lawsuits, it seems that the lawyers make most of the money and very little actually trickles down to the people affected, that being said the companies get (rightfully) bitch slapped…
We would love it if that system came to Europe, flawed as it may be , its a huge stick to hold over the heads of scumbags like Apple.
iPhone owners demand to see Apple source code
Apple agreed to turn over iPhone source code in antitrust lawsuit, but then reneged, plaintiffs say.iPhone owners charging Apple and AT&T with breaking antitrust laws asked a federal judge this week to force Apple to hand over the iPhone source code, court documents show.
The lawsuit, which was filed in October 2007, accuses Apple and AT&T of violating antitrust laws, including the Sherman Act, by agreeing to a multi-year deal that locks U.S. iPhone owners into using the mobile carrier.
On Wednesday, the plaintiffs asked U.S. District Court Judge James Ware to compel Apple to produce the source code for the iPhone 1.1.1 software, an update that Apple issued in September 2007. The update crippled iPhones that had been unlocked, or “jailbroken,” so that they could be used with mobile providers other than AT&T. The iPhone 1.1.1 “bricked” those first-generation iPhones that had been hacked, rendering them useless and wiping all personal data from the device.
Several days before iPhone 1.1.1 was released, Apple threatened to take action against users who had hacked their handsets, saying that doing so would “violate their iPhone software license agreement and void their warranty.” Prior to that, Apple CEO Steve Jobs had said it was his company’s job to stymie attempts to jailbreak the iPhone. “It’s a cat and mouse game,” Jobs said at the time. “People will try to break in, and it’s our job to stop them breaking in.”
The plaintiffs in the case want to examine some of the iPhone 1.1.1 source code, including that for the kernel, the Core OS and Core Services layer, as well as for two programs — “Purple Restore” and “BBUpdater — which are used to update the iPhone’s operating system and flash the phone’s baseband chip. The source code is necessary, they argued, in order to determine whether all iPhones were given the same 1.1.1 update, and whether it was designed to “brick” all or just some hacked iPhones.
“Unless Plaintiffs are given access to Version 1.1.1 source code, their ability to prove the size and scope of the Class affected by Version 1.1.1 will be severely compromised and unfairly prejudiced,” the motion read.
The plaintiffs face a deadline of Jan. 8 for filing a motion to grant the case class-action status. If Ware certifies the class, other iPhone users would be able to join the lawsuit.
According to documents submitted Wednesday to Ware, lawyers for Apple and the plaintiffs met numerous times last summer to hammer out an agreement to give the latter access to the iPhone 1.1.1 source code. As of Aug. 20, 2009, Apple had agreed to make the entire source code of 1.1.1 available for inspection.
But then Apple …
Read the rest of the story on ComputerWorld
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