Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Fully SIM Unlocked iPhones

By the way, a question:

Do AT&T charges incur starting on the day of iPhone purchase or on the day of account activation, if such activation is performed? In other words, does the purchase of an iPhone necessitate the purchase of an AT&T monthly plan?

If the answer is no, then this could be an easy way for Apple to make "unlocking" financially pointless for virtually all customers (EDIT: Of course, in such a case they would also have to dramatically increase their early termination fee).

Thanks.
 
galganog said:
It may not be killed by apple. But AT&T will shut this down. This is costing them customers as well as the exclusive rights they have to supplying the Iphone service.
Click to expand...
Where's the precedent to believe they will do this? People have been unlocking carrier locked GSM phones for years.

Personally I would just like my iPhone unlocked so I can pop a local SIM card in it when in Europe, to avoid ridiculous EDGE fees from AT&T. I'm still going to remain a AT&T customer in the USA however, as AT&T provide a better service and certainly better support for the iPhone than T-Mobile.
 
Not worth it -- at all

For me, Visual Voicemail is absolutely one of the killer apps. on the iPhone -- to me, iPhone would not be nearly as enticing without it. I see this most useful for folks who travel internationally who might want to pop a prepaid GSM SIM card into the phone for better rates than AT&T's international roaming rates.
 
The Feds have said that it's not illegal to write software that unlocks phones. Apple would have to get around that law before they could win their case.

As for me I coould care less. If I was to get a iPhone I'd have to switch from Verizon to another carrier anyway. I don't see why I would want to move to t-mobile over AT&T when I have to hack the phone to do it.

On the other hand if I could use pay-as-you-go while outside the US then it might be worth doing.

SuparShadow said:
I predict a lawsuit.
Click to expand...
 
Actually it is a law

There is a law called the Digital Millienium Copyright Act that was signed into law and it states that:


"`(2) No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public,
provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service,
device, component, or part thereof, that--

`(A) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of
circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access
to a work protected under this title;

`(B) has only limited commercially significant purpose or use other
than to circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls
access to a work protected under this title; or

`(C) is marketed by that person or another acting in concert with that
person with that person's knowledge for use in circumventing a
technological measure that effectively controls access to a work
protected under this title.

Technically since this is a software program designed to hack the Iphone it is in violation of this rule. So as i said this is definatly able to get shut down if the companies suing have enough money and legal know how to do so.

And you know that At$t does.

http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/hr2281_dmca_law_19981020_pl105-304.html

Full text of the law here

I am glad these group of people did what they did but they do not deserve money or compensation. If they offer this software for free then i would have no qualms with what they did but the way i see it what they are doing is breaking the hacker code and i hope they get burned
 
Refurb iPhone from the Apple store, plus a T-Mobile2Go SIM @ 0.10 a min for calls plus WiFi for net and email, plus its an iPod to boot. Starting to sound good to me. How far away is Christmas, seems like this may have been Apples master plan all a long. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple itself is not part of the "team" the broke the lock.

Rj
 
Nicky G said:
For me, Visual Voicemail is absolutely one of the killer apps. on the iPhone -- to me, iPhone would not be nearly as enticing without it. I see this most useful for folks who travel internationally who might want to pop a prepaid GSM SIM card into the phone for better rates than AT&T's international roaming rates.
Click to expand...

Visual Voicemail, great feature, but not necessarily worth giving money to a company I hate (AT&T). T-mobile was always really friendly, and their support reps were always so much more competent, in my dealings with the two companies.
 
Socialist crap and legal misinformation

If you don't like the Apple/at&t contract, don't buy the phone. No person or company has any ethical or legal obligation to make their product or services available to everybody for any purpose. You have a multitude of other options. THAT'S YOUR FREEDOM. As far as how *great* it is in Sweden that you get "free" stuff--somebody is paying for it, you just don't see who. It's like saying "my electric car doesn't pollute"--the pollution is just not in your back yard, but somebody is still polluting.

And what's really weird here is that most of you who are proclaiming how great of a development this hack is...are the same one's who would bitch endlessly in these forums if Apple released a phone without, for example, Visual Voice Mail, which you aren't going to get with this hack. "It's crippled!!!!!!! How could they do this??!!" Blah blah blah.

One of the basic tenets of patent and copyright law is that the holder of the rights must exercise them...in other words, if you don't actively go after the unlicensed use of your property, you can lose the legal right to do so later.

Apple and at&t will find a way to defend themselves.
 
JPark said:
I'm already a Cingular customer, but don't want a data plan. Any thoughts on if this would allow me to use the iPhone with my current plan and still use the Visual Voicemail?
Click to expand...

You'll get data charges for visual voicemail, and from what i've read the iphone "talks" to ATT via internet at least once a day. Honestly, the phone is so heavily tied to EDGE that until a hack arrives that allows you to toggle EDGE service off entirely I wouldn't go near the phone without unlimited data. And overages on a small data plan can run you several times what the unlimited plan costs.
 
Lawsuit blanks being filled in now...

I'll bet it's a DCMA complaint. That *stupid* law has made touching anything illegal. And this is going to go even worse for those guys cause they're selling the info and software - they're going to be testing the commercial damages clauses of that law. Here's hoping they move to Russia so we can actually get the benefits of this.
 
T-zones

Do you guys think maybe you could get the t-zones plan to work on it just like you could on the MDA? Just by adding the wap.voicestream.com and the proxy settings to it?
 
galganog said:
There is a law called the Digital Millienium Copyright Act that was signed into law and it states that:


"`(2) No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public,
provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service,
device, component, or part thereof, that--

`(A) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of
circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access
to a work protected under this title;

`(B) has only limited commercially significant purpose or use other
than to circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls
access to a work protected under this title; or

`(C) is marketed by that person or another acting in concert with that
person with that person's knowledge for use in circumventing a
technological measure that effectively controls access to a work
protected under this title.

Technically since this is a software program designed to hack the Iphone it is in violation of this rule. So as i said this is definatly able to get shut down if the companies suing have enough money and legal know how to do so.

And you know that At$t does.

http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/hr2281_dmca_law_19981020_pl105-304.html

Full text of the law here

I am glad these group of people did what they did but they do not deserve money or compensation. If they offer this software for free then i would have no qualms with what they did but the way i see it what they are doing is breaking the hacker code and i hope they get burned
Click to expand...

Cell phone unlocking is SPECIFICALLY excluded from the provisions of the DMCA.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061124-8280.html
 
galganog said:
There is a law called the Digital Millienium Copyright Act that was signed into law and it states that:


"`(2) No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public,
provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service,
device, component, or part thereof, that--

`(A) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of
circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access
to a work protected under this title;

`(B) has only limited commercially significant purpose or use other
than to circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls
access to a work protected under this title; or

`(C) is marketed by that person or another acting in concert with that
person with that person's knowledge for use in circumventing a
technological measure that effectively controls access to a work
protected under this title.

Technically since this is a software program designed to hack the Iphone it is in violation of this rule. So as i said this is definatly able to get shut down if the companies suing have enough money and legal know how to do so.

And you know that At$t does.

http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/hr2281_dmca_law_19981020_pl105-304.html

Full text of the law here

I am glad these group of people did what they did but they do not deserve money or compensation. If they offer this software for free then i would have no qualms with what they did but the way i see it what they are doing is breaking the hacker code and i hope they get burned
Click to expand...


DMCA does not apply to cellphones. if you read the full text, as you suggest others do, you will see that it applies only in the context of performances. The section you quote was intended to prevent the circumvention of copy-protection technology and hence protect the publishers copyright.

In my opinion, the DCMA is an awful peice of law, but hey ho.
 
farmboy said:
If you don't like the Apple/at&t contract, don't buy the phone. No person or company has any ethical or legal obligation to make their product or services available to everybody for any purpose. You have a multitude of other options. THAT'S YOUR FREEDOM. As far as how *great* it is in Sweden that you get "free" stuff--somebody is paying for it, you just don't see who. It's like saying "my electric car doesn't pollute"--the pollution is just not in your back yard, but somebody is still polluting.

And what's really weird here is that most of you who are proclaiming how great of a development this hack is...are the same one's who would bitch endlessly in these forums if Apple released a phone without, for example, Visual Voice Mail, which you aren't going to get with this hack. "It's crippled!!!!!!! How could they do this??!!" Blah blah blah.

One of the basic tenets of patent and copyright law is that the holder of the rights must exercise them...in other words, if you don't actively go after the unlicensed use of your property, you can lose the legal right to do so later.

Apple and at&t will find a way to defend themselves.
Click to expand...

A mixture of ignorance, confusion and displaced anger.
 
CameronT said:
Cell phone unlocking is SPECIFICALLY excluded from the provisions of the DMCA.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061124-8280.html
Click to expand...

Ah i see i was looking at the older version of the law. This is the one that was amended in 2006. I was looking at the 2003 version.

Well then i guess something will get filed but who knows how it will work. My only real problem is they are asking for money for this application. I guess the pirates will just have to seed it in limewire and torrent it.

Drink up me hearties yo ho.
 
Maxiseller said:
It will be very interesting to see if Apple Legal puts a stop on this...and if so, on what legal grounds.
Click to expand...

They can't. It is 100% legal to unlock a cell phone in the US. The manufacturer or carrier doesn't have to help you, but if you figure out a way, you have not broken any laws or done anything wrong.
 
Countdown to Apple & AT&T requiring you sign a contract and register it at the store…

Honestly, I think this whole hacking the iphone to add features or unlock it is really very childish. Like spending $600 to have the equivalent features of a $300 phone just because it's an Apple product.

You're hardly beating the system, when you still have to fork out a small fortune to play.

You'll also feel pretty stupid when your hacked phones arrive at their European destinations - right about the same time Apple announces availability over there.
 
kwood said:
Although I still can't justify spending $599 on a phone I wouldn't use. I barely use my cell phone now as t is.
Click to expand...
Perhaps why you barely use your current cell phone is BECAUSE it can't do near what the iPhone can. I think that's the point of the device. It's a phone AND it does a lot of other stuff and does it well.

Do I have one? No. Why?

I can't justify spending $599 on a phone because I work from home. My graphic design keeps me in front of computer all day with complete access to my Email/Internet/Music on a 23" HD Cinema Display. The iPhone's screen just can't compete with that.

I'm holding out for the next iPod. I would spend $599 on that if it was pimped out enough -- the touchscreen, huge HD, Wifi capabilities, etc. -- can't wait.
 
Fwink! said:
You'll also feel pretty stupid when your hacked phones arrive at their European destinations - right about the same time Apple announces availability over there.
Click to expand...

Not quite, because most European carriers, if not all, impose roaming charges once the user crosses national borders, e.g. from Greece to Italy. With an unlocked iPhone, you will be able to simply slip in a Italian SIM card for those 5 days you will be there, and thus avoid roaming charges.
 
starflyer said:
You don't think they predicted this happening from the get go? Apple and at&t already have a plan on how to handle this. ;)
Click to expand...

They are announcing European service next month.

Most people want a "blessed and supported" device and service and that is also on their side.

This news is of interest to hobbiests and bleeding edgers, and it is good news.

Rocketman
 
dr_lha said:
Where's the precedent to believe they will do this? People have been unlocking carrier locked GSM phones for years.

Personally I would just like my iPhone unlocked so I can pop a local SIM card in it when in Europe, to avoid ridiculous EDGE fees from AT&T. I'm still going to remain a AT&T customer in the USA however, as AT&T provide a better service and certainly better support for the iPhone than T-Mobile.
Click to expand...

Why is Edge fees ridiculous? No other carries provides unlimited data access for a smart phone for under $40/month. $20/month is a pretty good deal in comparison.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back