AT&T Brings Out Legal Issues on the iPhone Unlocking

AT&T has decided to interfere in the iPhone unlocking trend that has come to a rather large proportion over the last period. iphoneunlocking.com, a subsidiary of UniquePhones, has promised to bring the remote software unlocking services for the iPhone at 12 noon EST on Saturday, but had to drop the idea after they received a call from AT&T's lawyers on that day's morning.

The law firm stated that the company was about to qualify for copyright infringement and illegal software dissemination actions. UniquePhones has decided to listen to some legal advice before they actually go through with their intention on providing the iPhone software unlocking services.

It looks like the lawyers that placed the call on behalf of AT&T were not very explicit on the gravity of the situation, as UniquePhones also looks to find out whether AT&T was sending a warning shot or directly threatening legal action. Until this is clarified, the unlocking software's release will be put on hold.

The iPhone's firmware is protected by the Copyright Act, as it is the case with any coded devices. Still, an exception to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) states that handset users can unlock their phones in order to connect to a wireless telephone communication network.

The illegal matter begins to surface when this unlocking takes place in order to gain a profit from selling the unlocked version of the specific devices. To put it clearer, users can unlock their personal handsets, but are not allowed to do this at a large scale, for commercial purposes.

Choosing to unlock your iPhone will also have its drawbacks and will not be fully covered. The handset could very well lose its warranty and Apple will stop supporting it. For those who find this matter more important than getting rid of the AT&T two-year contract, unlocking will never be tempting. Anyone like that, out there?