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iPhone User Awarded $850 in Judgment Against AT&T Over Throttling

WannaGoMac said:
Any lawyers here?

I understood no contract can work to waive people's rights, such as this clause mentioned in the post above " AT&T's subscriber contract prohibits class action or jury trials"
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You can absolutely waive rights. Unless there is clear duress, the clause is unconscionable or against public policy (or something like that). In cases like this, you can always NOT sign up. Nothing is forcing you to get an AT&T iPhone. Or any phone for that matter. They are not FORCING you to sign up for their service.

Contracts are drafted everyday that require the parties to first arbitrate or mediate or disclaim all kinds of things. As long as there is valid consideration (a legal term that really sucks in law school) its all good.
 
The big reason I stuck with AT&T when I got the 4s was UNLIMITED Data. Their removing this is quite slimy now.
 
Resevdog said:
You can absolutely waive rights. Unless there is clear duress, the clause is unconscionable or against public policy (or something like that). In cases like this, you can always NOT sign up. Nothing is forcing you to get an AT&T iPhone. Or any phone for that matter. They are not FORCING you to sign up for their service.

Contracts are drafted everyday that require the parties to first arbitrate or mediate or disclaim all kinds of things. As long as there is valid consideration (a legal term that really sucks in law school) its all good.
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100% correct but just like any good contract(written by a lawyer most likely)theres mostly always a way around these,just like negligence waivers which are moderately easy to beat
 
How much in legal fees?

Color me stupid, but does anyone know how much data usage actually costs the provider? (Towers/research/licensing aside) What capacity can they truly handle, how is it distributed? Throttling is stupid, and they use the "greater good" argument, but how limited is the spectrum really?
 
Resevdog said:
You can absolutely waive rights. Unless there is clear duress, the clause is unconscionable or against public policy (or something like that). In cases like this, you can always NOT sign up. Nothing is forcing you to get an AT&T iPhone. Or any phone for that matter. They are not FORCING you to sign up for their service.

Contracts are drafted everyday that require the parties to first arbitrate or mediate or disclaim all kinds of things. As long as there is valid consideration (a legal term that really sucks in law school) its all good.
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How about if I drafted a contract that said I can shoot you in the leg and you wouldn't sue me or press charges? My understanding this is not allowed?
 
WannaGoMac said:
How about if I drafted a contract that said I can shoot you in the leg and you wouldn't sue me or press charges? My understanding this is not allowed?
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Just because its in there doesn't mean it 100% enforceable.Shooting someone in the leg would fall under the realm of UNREASONABLE and UNCONSCIONABLE
 
DerekRod said:
Yes something along those lines


Just because its Small Claims Court doesn't mean it can't be enforced.Trust me it can and will be unless appealed
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Yes I know it can be enforced but a company lke AT&T isn't worried about it. The only way I have found to get these large corporations to pay in any timely fashion is after the small claims ruling you have to go to a real lawyer. With a good lawyer $850 won't get you very far.
 
Every time someone in my area buys an iPhone my 3G speed gets throttled. If you want to use the court system to 'stick it to ATT' force them to beef up the network on a faster pace. I'd rather them improve tower capacity than get a few pennies from a lawsuit.
 
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Resevdog said:
arn said:
Apparently AT&T's subscriber agreement prohibits class action suits. not sure if that's enforceable, but it's there.

arn
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Enforceable. And upheld by the Supreme Court in the last year if I recall correctly. Might not be specifically ATT&T's clause, but general disclaimers of class actions.

But I might be confused. I've been studying for the NY Bar for about 3 months now and my brain...hurts.
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Nice, good luck on your bar exam! I took breaks while studying for my exams on here too!
 
lostngone said:
Yes I know it can be enforced but a company lke AT&T isn't worried about it. The only way I have found to get these large corporations to pay in any timely fashion is after the small claims ruling you have to go to a real lawyer. With a good lawyer $850 won't get you very far.
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its only $850... thats nothing to AT&T.. their bigger problem will be arguing against this ruling should there be a class action lawsuit. Which I hope some greedy lawyer does bring forward a Class action suit... it may force AT&T into giving up this ridiculous throttling stunt.
 
lostngone said:
Yes I know it can be enforced but a company lke AT&T isn't worried about it. The only way I have found to get these large corporations to pay in any timely fashion is after the small claims ruling you have to go to a real lawyer. With a good lawyer $850 won't get you very far.
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they're are given a set time to pay if they don't you just bring them back seek the original amount granted.plus time lost of work,transportation and all legal fees they'll pay one way or another
 
WannaGoMac said:
How about if I drafted a contract that said I can shoot you in the leg and you wouldn't sue me or press charges? My understanding this is not allowed?
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First, why would I sign that contract?
Second, this would be a criminal matter. That's up to the state if they want to bring charges. On the civil side, I would think this would clearly fall under the "invalid contract" as there is no consideration on my part. What benefit am I receiving from this contract? There must be a bargained for exchange, or an altering of positions in some way for there to be a contract. Also, they must be matched expectations. If you were to give my $1 million to shoot me in the leg and in exchange I agree not to sue...well, then there MIGHT be something. But again, since the agreed to act on your part would violate the law (most likely) the contract would likely still be void.

Also unconscionable. And an argument for incapacity to agree to the contract could be made. No reasonable person would agree to get shot in the leg...
 
Fandongo said:
How much in legal fees?

Color me stupid, but does anyone know how much data usage actually costs the provider? (Towers/research/licensing aside) What capacity can they truly handle, how is it distributed? Throttling is stupid, and they use the "greater good" argument, but how limited is the spectrum really?
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I know in New York to file a claim in small claims court it is like $20 for a claim of over $1,000, if it is under $1,000 then the court fee is $15
 
So, why not go Sprint? I'm thinking about going to them. Are they any better? I'm due for upgrade to iPhone 4S from a 3GS. Both Verizon and AT&T have about the same quality of plans an data limitation. So there's Sprint to look at. T-Mobile? What's that?
 
tido2012 said:
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Nice, good luck on your bar exam! I took breaks while studying for my exams on here too!
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Thanks! With 3 days left, if I don't know it by now, I never will.
 
I really hope 10 or even 5 years from now, traditional wireless carriers are rendered obsolete. I can't wait to eliminate such a constrictive, disingenuous, and regressive company from my life.
 
Sweetcheetah said:
So, why not go Sprint? I'm thinking about going to them. Are they any better? I'm due for upgrade to iPhone 4S from a 3GS. Both Verizon and AT&T have about the same quality of plans an data limitation. So there's Sprint to look at. T-Mobile? What's that?
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If AT&T forces me out of unlimited ill be asked to be let out of my contract and go right to sprint
 
I wonder what ever happened to that iPad data plan fiasco?
Where the iPad was announced with unlimited data plans that you could starts and stop at anytime but that plan was discontinued even before some people even received their ipads. I haven't heard a word on that suit.
 
This is awesome. Im glad that someone finally stood up to ATT and said this is not acceptable or unlimited! Reminds me of a woman in SoCal who filed a suit in small claims court against honda over gas mileage statements and won! Three cheers for the little guy.
 
DotCom2 said:
I wonder what ever happened to that iPad data plan fiasco?
Where the iPad was announced with unlimited data plans that you could starts and stop at anytime but that plan was discontinued even before some people even received their ipads. I haven't heard a word on that suit.
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Not as many people have those I guess,haven't heard anyone complaining about being throttled on an iPad at least on here
 
DerekRod said:
If AT&T forces me out of unlimited ill be asked to be let out of my contract and go right to sprint
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Sprint wont keep unlimited forever either.

The issue is not arguing to keep unlimited. Unlimited is going to go away (even on Sprint) in the near future. The real issue is to have fair pricing (and overuse policies) for tiered plans. Currently, tiered data pricing is completely out of whack. Until they figure it out, I'll stay on my unlimited for as long as I possibly can.
 
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