UniquePhones's iPhone unlock release 'slowed' by AT&T lawyers
By Darren Murph 
posted August 25th 2007 12:43PM
posted August 25th 2007 12:43PM
posted August 25th 2007 12:43PM
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No thanks...I`m getting 2.1 megabits down and 800 kilobits up on SPRINT with very low latency.
Apple and ATT are YEARS behind...and SPRINT/CLEARWIRE/GOOGLE WIMAX is rolling out right now , further crushing Apple/ATT ;)
On what shitty device are you getting that download/upload rate? Not an iPhone i bet.
@ktula
i hope youre kidding. you are kidding right? 2.1mb on a phone? The iphone can't touch that on edge. not even close....you're kidding right.
I use the Sanyo 8400 Let me describe it. Nice 320x240 screen. Very loud clear speaker and earpiece. I can put 4gb of Memory into it (MSD cards) and it has 60mb of internal space (more ringers than you an shake a stick at) Full open bluetooth. I can download m4a mp3 qcp mid ringers till I am blue in the face. I can upload my own ringers for nothing. megapixel images (not bad quality for cell cam) video unlimited length (capacity of mem card and thats a crap load of video) I already do video mail. Texting is a PITA so I record a video and send that. If a game or program is available I can install it.
I pay $34.53 a month with taxes and get 500anytime minutes 7pm nights weekends mobile to mobile unlimited pic mail unlimited EVDO internet and unlimited texting.
All the normal features as well picture id ringers speaker BT voice dial etc.. etc.. etc.. I can do the youtube etc.. too. I even stream recordings I make on my computer at home live to my phone anytime I want (thanks orb) I can even access my ENTIRE mp3 collection remotely if I want to. I can even stream LIVE TV from one of my tuner cards of I want. YES the EVDO is that fast. Download speeds have NO bandwidth limits any limits are limitations of the PHONE and its software NOT the network its that fast. When jacked into computer ($40 a month for that) its faster than most DSL connections with pretty decent UPLOAD too. I have hit 50+k up and I have gotten singular downloads over 400k actual (bytes not bits) I bet I could get more multi streaming but I do not want to abuse such a good thing.
Unlocked AND Unrestricted the Iphone is a pretty neat idea. As it stands its a paperweight to me. If sprint released an iphone with NO restrictions and NO catch 22's (special plans and crap) I would probably plunk down $400 too (only after they fixed the non replaceable battery issue)
Otherwise besides the larger screen and no flip (I prefer candy bar phones) the iphone has NOTHING to offer me that I can not already do easier better and cheaper.
I hate apple. I hate apple for the SAME reason I hate SONY. both companies can, do, and have released WONDERFUL hardware (ipod minidisc) and both are rendered MOOT to me because of silly PROPRIETARY restrictions added by the companies making them.
Apple makes AMAZING hardware that they then RUIN by saying SCREW the customer. I would not even LOOK at an ipod till I could put music on it WITHOUT itunes. (thanks rockbox even though its too primitive yet to really be great) I only have an ipod because someone sold me a half busted one for $40 that I repaired for another $30 (battery and headphone jack assembly)
I use my PDA (zodiac) for an mp3 player. Nicer screen built in stereo (and usable) speakers yahama sound chip (amazing quality) and I can load 8gig of SD cards into it (dual SD card slots dual 4gig cards) and NO RESTRICTIONS no stinking ID3 databases. No stinking playlists. Just folder access and bliss Drag Drop DONE. No software to install or screw with. DROP my mp3's on the SD card pop it in the slot hit play. WHY manufacturers do not "get this" is beyond me. WHY PEOPLE do not SCREAM about this is beyond me. I can load 30 mp3's onto an SD card and be PLAYING THEM in my Zodiac in less time than it takes itunes to open and see the ipod and I have a pretty hot system. They actually MOVING stuff onto the ipod with itunes? gag me please. its insanely slow and IT IS itunes becuse I can drag and drop the MP3's onto the same ipod with the SAME cable in 1/3 the time in Mass Storage Mode.
In fact take a tapwave Zodiac and move the headphone jack sideways a bit (its on a curve so thicker headphone jacks do not fit) and put a more conventional charging jack on it and add SDHC support and its about as perfect an MP3 player as money can buy. that 480x320 screen sure is pretty :-)
I am sorry for ranting. It just drives me NUTS !! I was hoping the IPHONE would equal the beginning of Cellular FREEDOM and its just one more proprietary shackle thats EVEN WORSE than the current model shackles.
I was hoping apple had finally learned. They have not. Great Hardware Horrible Software.
Is there any legal crap we can throw at AT&T for stopping the unlock software being released? Create some kind of class action suit based upon our right to unlock the bloody phone!
Retaliate against Apple and ATT? Sure! Get the 10K form and look up the accounting firm that does the financial statements of these corporate giants. Write a letter to the corporate headquarters (shareholder relations, perhaps) that says, in a friendly way, that you understand that the corporate policy is to do this and do that (bad stuff) and you want to be advised if you are wrong. To claim damages for liability, the plaintiff has to minimize the damage, for example by writing back and saying no, that's not the real company policy. Failure to do so means the company cannot collect damages (per British common law; watch your step in Louisiana.)
The letter has your return address at its top, but the envelope does not. The envelope has the return address of a notary, who is on on the scheme.
After a month, the notary prepares a statement: "I, (name), sent a letter of which here is a copy, to the address on the letter, and it was not returned, so this may give the sender the legal right to assert that it was delivered."
Less easily detected than a certified letter. Bonus: you get to prove what was sent, which a certified letter in general won't let you do.
After you have done this and waited a month, send a copy of the notary's letter by certified mail to the accountant. You have proved, by failure to receive a rebuttal, that company policy is (bad stuff). The accountant must so state in the financial statements or the accountant can be sued for any loss of value any stockholder can attribute to the omission.
Wait for a downtick that can be correlated to the bad stuff complained about and sue the accountant without mercy.
Query: What happens when a corporation cannot furnish financial statements because all the accountants are afraid of being sued? Interesting to find out, huh
Press Release
August 25th, 2007
iphoneunlocking.com, a subsidiary of UniquePhones (www.uniquephones.com). was poised and ready to release remote software unlocking services for the iphone today at 12 noon EST. The sale of unlocking codes is on hold after the company received a telephone call from a Menlo Park, California, law firm at approximately 2:54 a.m. this morning (GMT).
After saying they were phoning on behalf of AT&T, the law firm presented issues such as copyright infringement and illegal software dissemination. Uniquephones is taking legal advice to ascertain whether AT&T was sending a warning shot or directly threatening legal action. The logistics of different continents as well as it being a weekend factors into how the situation develops.
Until an assessment is made of the potential of legal action, Uniquephones is unable to release the unlocking software for sale. The company spokesperson also said that the company would also be evaluating what to eventually do with the software should they be legally denied the right to sell it. A substantial delay caused by any legal action would render the unlocking software a less valuable commodity as well as creating unforeseen security issues for the company
The solution has now been released by uniquephones!interesting to see what happens after this...
Lets us look at the facts.
They were the first to **claim** they'd have an unlock tool.
They announced their solution was finally working the same day someone else gave engadget proof that they had a working version.
They announced the availability of it the day after some kid got nationwide press coverage showing his (hardware) unlock.
They suddenly claim attorneys contact them, despite no other unlockers making similar claims (even though others are in the US and these jokers are UK based)
I'm sorry to say it, but the evidence points towards vaporware or just plain lies.
Are you kidding me? You're making such a hype of something that's been done long before the 17 kid did it and now this company. If you can read Russian you can find at least a couple step-by-step manuals and lists of equipment (primarily, sim reader/coder) for unlocking iPhone. And it's been our like the first week after release of iPhone. As always, America is behind.
You can do it at your home in about 1 hour. http://www.iphones.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=44
No one's gonna sue you if you do it at home. There's a bunch of info about how to unlock your iPhone. So it's not hard for the company to claim they have unlock tools - they actually are available.
This will never see the light of day, as I said yesterday on this site.
They should have GPLed it and released it. Once they decided to sell it, it died.
Mark my words, you will never see this software available for sale. And you probably won't see it free, either, unless it's a totally independent implementation coming from somebody else. The developer of this had their chance at having some fame and a very nice resume bullet, but got greedy and blew it.
"They were the first to **claim** they'd have an unlock tool."- Do your research, the guy John McLaughlin was one of the first people EVER to launch an unlocking company years ago, he was in demand for interviews when the iPhone was released to see if he would approach unlocking it, and obviously he has!!!!
"They announced their solution was finally working the same day someone else gave engadget proof that they had a working version."- as soon as one business has the solution, its leaked almost immediatly, Unique Phones are playing it the media well so as to not attract Apples attention and be the most liable for law suits if they were first to release. think about it...
"They announced the availability of it the day after some kid got nationwide press coverage showing his (hardware) unlock."-- again, read before!!!
"They suddenly claim attorneys contact them, despite no other unlockers making similar claims (even though others are in the US and these jokers are UK based)"- AT&T have had many run ins with unique phones/ 'these jokers', first with them advertising at the launch of iPhone that theyd be the first to unlock it, and its now FACT that they were contacted by a lawyer...DO YOUR RESEARCH
.....and their a world wide company, the owner is Uk based.
They should just leak this crack to the world already and stop fantasizing about making a profit. Face it, this phone WILL eventually be officially available on all major carriers because that's how Apple can get the most mileage out of it. So, forget the profit scheme, your little trick is only going to be good for a short time so release it now while people actually care, get the credit/glory and be happy.
AT&T in the end would absolutely lose any lawsuit brought forth regarding this. But from their point of view, it's easy to control anyone who releases this hack, because they would spend a billion dollars suing you because it has the potential to directly affect their revenue stream. Apple on the other hand would secretly most likely be happy because they could start selling more units. However I don't think the average consumer is going to hack an iPhone in this manner, but they would probably buy an unlocked one if they cared enough to go on ebay. No doubt this hack will make it out, and in fact there are already ways to do this with a turbo-sim.
That said WHAT I DO, with my iPhone, when it's NOT on AT&T's network, they can kiss my ass. If I want to modify my personal property in ANY way I see fit, I damn will.
My own theory with absolutely no supporting evidence:
Apple secretly supported the unlocking software (why wouldn't they? They'll sell more phones). AT&T is afraid of losing their only competitive advantage so they're pulling these kinds of kinda-sorta-not really legal moves to delay the inevitable.
Someone hacked the hackers. Lawyers do not make phone calls in this situation. (I'm a lawyer - take my word for it.)
A real law firm would send a letter, by fax if it's a rush, with the original sent by FedEx or other courier, signature on delivery. Only a joker would make a midnight call offering 'friendly advice'!
What's fishy here is that this is the first thing McLaughlin's lawyers would have told him, which would have left him free to proceed. Could it be that he got cold feet, and needed an excuse for doing a bit of legal research?
Hey, i managed to get an unlocked iphone from ebay one for rogers canada and one for t-mobile usa and they both work like a charm! Couldn't be happier, i got it from here if anyone's interested:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330166804466