Lawsuit is looking to keep Apple from selling locked iPhones in United States.
(Paul Sakuma / AP)... Close up views of the new Apple iPhone 4 are shown during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference Monday in San Francisco.A federal judge has approved the monopoly abuse lawsuit against Apple Inc. and AT&T, saying that the claim can move forward as a class action suit.
The lawsuit will combine several suits filed against Apple and AT&T since late 2007, after the first Apple iPhone went on sale.
The complaint was amended in June 2008 to aim at Apple’s locking of iPhones so that they can only be used in conjunction with AT&T’s network, along with holding all control over what applications can and cannot be installed on the iPhones.
The lawsuit also states that Apple made AT&T its exclusive iPhone partner for five years. The consumer contracts that come with an iPhones locks them in for two years, but if they plan to continue with the iPhone, they are locked in with AT&T as a service provider for five years.
The lawsuit claims the action drove up prices for consumers and hurt competition.
Apple and AT&T have not commented on the terms of the iPhone on the AT&T network. However, Apple has claimed it has not hurt competition through any of its business practices.
The court documents filed on July 8 say that parts of the lawsuit that deal with antitrust law can go on as a class action. Included in the class is anyone who bought an iPhone with a two-year AT&T agreement since June 2007.
There have been over 50 million iPhones sold in the last three years.
The lawsuit is looking to keep Apple from selling more locked iPhones in the United States along with determining what iPhone applications people can install. The lawsuit is also seeking damages to cover legal fees.
More information on the Apple, AT&T lawsuit:
»Huffington Post: iPhone Class Action: Judge Approves Lawsuit Against Apple, AT&T
»PC World: Lawsuit Against Apple Continues as a Class Action
»New York Times: What if AT&T Loses iPhone Exclusivity?
»Boston Globe: iPhone lawsuit is now a class action
»CNET: iPhone lawsuit wins class action status
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