It isn’t the first, and I assume it’s not going to be the last either.
Apple and AT&T are facing a new putative class action from an iPhone user who alleges that the companies misrepresented the phone’s MMS (multimedia messaging service) capabilities.
Clyde Bernard Franklin filed the complaint (case 1:2009cv00704) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama on behalf of all Alabama residents last Wednesday. I don’t have proper access to the court documents at this point so it’s a bit unclear what the allegations in this particular case are exactly, but there should be more information about the details available shortly.
While iPhone OS 3.0 included support for MMS from the start, AT&T took quite some time to enable the feature, which prompted iPhone owners to initiate two separate class action lawsuits against the carrier and Apple last August.
On September 25, AT&T finally rolled out the service for iPhone owners in the United States, so it’s safe to say that the delay isn’t why Franklin is taking Apple and AT&T to court.
We’ll update when we learn more.
seems apple just crippled tethering with 3.1.2 even with phones sold legally unlocked in hong kong ..
It’s about time someone sued these money hungry chumps. Go Google. Apple/AT&T can suck a golf ball through a garden hose.
I love my iPhone!
hahaha
Yeah I love my iPhone too but I am happy to see Apple and AT&T getting punished for overinflating claims about what the phone can actually DO.
I bet the same person who filed this complaint is suing Ford because the 4 cylinder Mustang he bought doesn’t have as much power as he thought it would, even though he test drove it…
Come on…
The engine would have to have 6 cylinders but they told you that you can’t use it until later in the year.
lol yeah…its the son of that chick that sued cigar company for getting cancer … america rocks
for consumers.. ;]
Not sure it’s the same story but didn’t cigarette companies made studies to know if it affected health of users but hid the results and continued to tell people it wasn’t bad for them?
Even in the 1800’s they were called Coffin Nails. Who didn’t know they affected your health? Maybe Helen Keller?
How do you know its about MMS?
Isn’t anybody else amused that it is from the Mobile Office in Mobile County?
Glad I scanned the comments before I made the Mobile comment myself lol.
You’re right, certainly not the first. But this one may hold more weight; certainly they could have turned MMS on a lot sooner than they did.
Don’t make promises your ass cant keep.
Don’t write checks that you ass can’t cash
How about a class action for the lack of service?
That wouldn’t work because AT&T doesn’t claim to have good service in the states. They make it seem like they do because they say they have the best worldwide service (do they do that anymore?)
Still though, seems like a good idea, and an even better reason to switch to a different network. Other networks offer smart phones that are as good, if not better then the iPhone.
Since when did your phone manufacturer and telco owe you anything? Was MMS a feature offered or guaranteed by either when you signed your contract?
when you agreed to pay for their product…
Maybe he’s suing because even though the software supports it, the feature is still turned off on the original iPhone.
That makes sense Phil. Good thinking. I didn’t even know it was still disabled on it.
I am sick of people coming up with ways to make their living by suing companies that provide us with essential pieces to our life and communication. Get a life, I take that back. Get a job you looser.
How do you know that’s what this is about? This isn’t the first time Apple and AT&T have gotten themselves in trouble over the iPhone.
It’s loser, not looser. Just so you know
lose (geeze I always lose at this game)
loose (These pants are really loose)
Actually, the delay is substance of the lawsuit.
I downloaded the original complaint here for your reading pleasure:
http://herot.ty...pple-at-al.html
Apple made it pretty clear that MMS was carrier-specific, and AT&T was pretty vague about when it would be supported here in the US.
Further, unless he can show substantive monetary harm or damages from the lack of a MMS feature, his case is pretty damn weak.
Basically, he’s in it for the money.
Have any of you thought maybe the value of the lawsuit is not any damages the court might give? He might just want to send a strong message to these (sometimes too financially) saavy corporations to stop disabling features and real consumer choice!
The Ford car analogy is a good highlight of how iPhone seems to operate. What other company purposefully disables standard features of their products in order to extend their (or their business partners) financial gain as much as Apple & AT&T does?
And it’s not just MMS, there’s fm radio, Internet teethering, google turn by turn app features, popular apps with memory clearance, bluetooth stereo (until recently), and all the other disabled features which has forced so many otherwise legitimate users to jailbreak.
Although, the Bluetooth AVRCP is still slightly crippled and you can’t control the volume of your stereo Bluetooth devices from the iPhone. Waiting for the software update…
No, his lawyers are….he’ll get NOTHING.
“…so it’s safe to say that the delay isn’t why Franklin is taking Apple and AT&T to court.”
Ummm…. money???
I have been on the phone with AT&T four times and they still cannot get MMS to work on my iPhone. They’ve acknowledged there is a system on their end that is not accepting changes and it thinks I am using a previous version of the iPhone.
Over 30 days and four calls, and they still can’t fix this.
Way to suck, AT&T.
i’ve been on ATT for 3 years, and the quality of the network has dramatically suffered since the iphone’s debut and has only been getting progressively worse. If you can’t handle the traffic, don’t sell the product. A very fair lawsuit, imo. You should get what you pay for – simple as that.
How bout some mobile to mobile or some rollover for the most expensive AT&T service available.
ATT’s network sucks, always has… I wish my iphone would work on some other network!
As punishment this jerk should be banned from using an iPhone the rest of his life. See how he likes that. What a money hungry loser. This lawsuit has no merit.
Shut the hell up you cry baby. So what you did not have MMS. How has you life got better since you have MMS. People like you that sue over stupid stuff like this should not have a Iphone. i hope Apple and AT&T rip you a new one. And you have to pay all there legal bills.
It’s not that MMS makes life better. I guess if anything it makes it more interesting. You take a great pic of something and want to share it ASAP. Easy, just use MMS.
MMS is stupid
Wow he must have really wanted MMS. Funny how he bought an iPhone WITHOUT MMS, and then sued when he didn’t get it.
That’s unfortunate. I hope they fix the problems soon
The root of the problem (or deception) is that the frequencies that deliver data are different with text than with multimedia or picture and video files, and were broken down into their individual frequencies and delivered separately by AT&T apparently in an effort to capitalize on them individually, ie their texting package that they say can alson deliver pictures doesn’t, but their multimedia messageing package does, so you actually need both if you want to be able to confidently send a message that includes pictures or a short video. But the AT&T company line was the text package by itself can deliver pictures but only the most minimal format was actually possible because AT&t broke the frequencies apart and charged separatley for them. Greedy Corporate behavior should not suprise anyone.