Apple Warns of Dangers of iPhone Unlocking

Late yesterday afternoon, Apple Computer issued a single-paragraph statement reminding its iPhone users that their warranties would not be able to cover damages to their phones caused by the use of unlocking utilities. The company used a carrot and stick approach, reminding users that an iTunes Music Store update was on the way, but that attempting to install it on a cracked phone could render it useless.

Here is the Apple statement in its entirety:

The first sentence implies that Apple has tested unlocking utilities, one of the most popular of which bills itself as "open source," in order to discover which of the unit's functions remain after it's no longer bound to AT&T, Apple's US carrier. However, the statement does not deny the possibility that features of existing iPhone firmware could disable non-phone functionality - such as its touch-screen iPod feature - at some future point.

The more likely possibility, however, appears to be that firmware updates may check for the presence of unlocking software or an unlocked phone status, and then render the phone disabled - a kind of self-destruct mechanism. Apple's public stance, judging from this statement, is that it cannot take responsibility for the damage done to its equipment by its customers.

BetaNews has never received a response from either Apple or AT&T to our question regarding whether either or both parties would consider taking legal action against customers who unlock their iPhones, or against individuals who help others in doing so. An exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act enacted last November specifically permits US cell phone users to unlock their phones from their designated carrier services, if users rightfully own those phones. Among our other outstanding questions is whether either party would concede that an iPhone purchaser constitutes a rightful iPhone owner under US law.

In light of yesterday's warning, one of the Web pages that had been providing iPhone users with a third-party, all-around FAQ - including where to find unlocking utilities - yesterday posted instructions for how an iPhone user can relock her unit to AT&T.