Good call by the judge on this one.

I mean after all you ARE forced by law to buy a smartphone and the Apple iPhone Is after all the only smarphone available in the world, that's a monopoly that has to be broken. Plus, you don't see other companies having on-line stores that sell only software that works with there products and nobody elses.

No Apple is clearly in the wrong on this one.

"unknown to consumers, the companies had agreed to technologically restrict voice and data service in the aftermarket for continued voice and data services, i.e., after the initial two-year service period expired."

When my two year contract is up then my Iphone data plan may be restricted, I may no longer have unlimited usage? I just checked and I didn't see anything like that in my service agreement, but I may have missed it.

Perhaps somewhere in the agreement is something that says unlimited data requires a two year plan and when it expires and one goes month-to-month then you pay for data usage. We would have to sign up for another contract?

I was ticked off enough when I learned that my first month's iPhone minutes do not roll over.

FWIW at the moment I am doing IT in a call center that supports "a major cellular provider", (not AT&T, one of the other guys).

Data plans are one of the biggest headaches for everyone. Agents find them difficult to explain. Customers assume they are getting ripped off. Nobody is happy.

Personally I just don't think ANY cellular provider is handling data plans well. AT&T, our client, Rogers here in Canada, they all have only ended up p!$$ing off their
customers.

Personally, I'm just not going to get ANY smartphone for a few years until they get this mess sorted out.

Companies have the right to regulate their products. Monopolies are about an entire market not a single product. You have to show that the monopolizer is so powerful that it can effectively ignore competition and force consumers into a single choice/price.

So what entire market are they monopolizing and how? Aren't there legitimate competitors? Doesn't Apple feel the pressure to beat RIM and others technology and pricing? This is what capitalism is all about. You make a big investment in hopes of getting a big market share.

I don't like the way they're doing things but I just don't see how it even comes close to a monopoly.

No knowledge/comment on the other charges.

Restricting of voice and data service after the contract expires means that even though you are no longer bound by your contract, you still have to continue buying voice & data service from AT&T, i.e. you cannot buy them from any other carrier -- your iPhone is locked and, presumably, they won't allow you to unlock it.

This one is extremely easy to refute. Nowhere in the agreement did Apple (nor AT&T) state that the unlocking of the phone would be impossible. They aren't allowing it now, but they could easily begin to allow it on 30 June 2009 (when the first 2-year contracts begin expiring).

Currently, AT&T will provide unlocking instructions for every phone (but the iPhone) to every customer who asks (as long as they have been paying their bills regularly). Nothing indicates this wouldn't be possible with the iPhone when the time comes.

Quote

vasic wrote:
Restricting of voice and data service after the contract expires means that even though you are no longer bound by your contract, you still have to continue buying voice & data service from AT&T, i.e. you cannot buy them from any other carrier -- your iPhone is locked and, presumably, they won't allow you to unlock it.

This one is extremely easy to refute. Nowhere in the agreement did Apple (nor AT&T) state that the unlocking of the phone would be impossible. They aren't allowing it now, but they could easily begin to allow it on 30 June 2009 (when the first 2-year contracts begin expiring).

Currently, AT&T will provide unlocking instructions for every phone (but the iPhone) to every customer who asks (as long as they have been paying their bills regularly). Nothing indicates this wouldn't be possible with the iPhone when the time comes.