HandsetLocking
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Sprint hit with lawsuit over handset locking
Looks like Sprint sure has its share of headaches these days. After giving its customers a surprise (and a way out of their contracts) with its SMS rate hikes, the company's now being hit with a class action lawsuit over handset locking. The suit, filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, alleges that Sprint violated California law by locking its handsets to make it difficult for customers to switch carriers without buying a new phone, as well as by failing to disclose that the handsets were locked in the first place. If you have a California billing address for either a Sprint personal or business account and purchased a handset between August 28, 1999 and September 21, 2006, then you're covered by the lawsuit and don't have to do anything. However, if you want to be excluded from the lawsuit, and retain the right to sue Sprint for yourself (how dare they carrier-lock their phones!), you'll have to fill out an exclusion request form (available on the site linked below) and mail it postmarked no later than December 7th, 2006. But fair warning -- if you go that route, you'll be shut out of any money or lavish benefits that may be awarded as a result of the class action lawsuit.[Thanks, Corey Flood]
