I'm going to sit back and watch you make an ass out of yourself reviling in other's problems... Are you satisfied now because you were the nice little customer that bent over and took the AT&T lockdown with the ridiculous charge-for-unlimited-EDGE and outrageous-roaming-fees-since-they-know-you-cant-swap-sims contract
and now you feel vindicated or something?
As long as you don't update your phone to the new firmware your update will continue to work just fine. If you have any sort of hardware problems then you are covered by warranty. You would need to bring your iPhone back to a "virgin state" as it is called. And take it back for repair. Apple cannot deny you service on bad hardware. If its software (hacked) issue, you should be able to find help on several iPhone hacking forums.
I don't know why people are taking such an anti-choice view on this situation. Wouldn't it be fun if Apple closed up the Mac platform in a similar fashion? Only Apple software and .Mac internet services. No google, no Firefox or any other choices save what Apple decides is right for you.
The point is you need to separate the iPhone into its 3 components. The
hardware which you outright own and are free to do with as you see fit. If I decide to buy an iPhone to use as a doorstop or a paperweight, there is nothing Apple can do about it. If I decide to install Linux on my closed Mac platform, again, its my business. There is the
software which Apple owns. If you decide to mess with their copyrighted stuff the you're in trouble. In the case of the unlocks, the hackers write their own stuff to replace Apple's. And the
service which is ATT. Considering the US is the model of free markets, it would be a grave contradiction, to allow such anti competitive actions to foster in the market place, where a consumer cannot move freely between different cell phone services. ATT was broken up into the Baby Bells for exactly that reason.
Here's a scenario. Say you have your land based telephone service with Verizon. You realise ATT is providing a better long distance package. You decide to switch. You now then need to get a separate house phone and phone line from ATT to use that long distance service in addition to Verizon phone. This is exactly what cellular service providers are asking you to do. How is that good for the consumer? Its only a matter of time before government steps in to put those companies in check.