So as you may have seen on some other sites, there was a little bit of drama today around the iPhone unlock program written (in part) by our own Erica Sadun. Lots of rumors are flying around, and lots of folks have it almost right. But none of them knows the real story. And since Sadun works for us, we have kind of an inside track on what really happened. So here it is.First of all, Erica didn't write the unlock application itself. The iPhone Dev Team did that, and it apparently is a real, no-code-stolen software unlock-- put it on your iPhone, run it, and then use any SIM you want. Erica only started to write the barebones of a GUI application for the unlock, and gave that code to the dev team.
Which is where this haRRo person gets involved. He, a Belfast, UK man, is not a member of the dev team, but pretended to be. He apparently took Erica's code out of the IRC channel, with the intent of selling it as his own application. He even got an offer from an Australian company, $50k AUD, to allow the application he said he'd written.
But he didn't write it. At all. Because while yes, the code he tried to sell was updated from Erica's code, it wasn't by haRRo. He actually contacted another coder to do the job-- who we spoke with, and our IM conversation can be seen after the jump.
Update: Post updated below.
The coder has asked us to keep his identity unknown.
anonymous: HaRRo put out the word on IRC last night about finding someone that could build a GUI application for unlocking the iPhone
anonymous: By the way he spoke, and how others treated him in the channel, I assumed that he was part of the dev-team
anonymous: He sent me the code that Erica had written already, and told me that it was okay to base my work off that
TUAW: interesting
anonymous: So I did. Most of Ericas code is gone from the the version that HaRRo released, but still, it is based on her work
TUAW: so did he tell you he was selling it?
anonymous: My intention was only to help the dev-team out at a time where the forums and IRC was flooded with people trying to unlock the manual (somewhat complicated) way
anonymous: Nope
anonymous: I had no idea that he planned on making money off this. I assumed it would be released for free (which it was), and the source opened up (which it wasnt, but the dev-team has the source now)
TUAW: and you didn't know erica's work was hers?
anonymous: I did. I saw her comments in the source-code, and I explicitly asked him if he had gotten her approval for releasing something based on her code
TUAW: and he said?
anonymous: "Of course"
But "of course," he hadn't. HaRRo tried to not only sell Erica and the Dev Team's code as completely his own, but even commissioned this other coder, while pretending to be a member of the Dev Team, to do his work for him.
The good news is that haRRo didn't get his money-- as was reported, the person offering the deal discovered the truth before any money changed hands.
And the best news is that things are back on track for the application-- both Erica and the coder who developed the application for haRRo (thinking he was part of the Dev Team), have given their own source back to the Dev Team, which means we should be very, very close to the holy grail: a completely free and open source, completely GUI, one click unlock for the iPhone.
Update: Looks like haRRo's been talking to Forbes also, and claiming that he's the "first to package the product.." TUAW has been told that David Harrison, the 23-year-old from Belfast, is haRRo himself.











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-12-2007 @ 9:13PM
artifex said...
Wow, sounds like attempted fraud. misrepresentation of unfinished/buggy app built from modified source he did not have rights to sell.
What a loser.
Reply
9-12-2007 @ 9:26PM
Stublag said...
The second I catch word of a one button does it all unlocking app, I'm going out and buying an ipod.
No questions asked.
Reply
9-12-2007 @ 9:27PM
geochick said...
That little phone is causing such intrigue. My goodness this is getting crazier everyday we should call this The Unofficial Apple Hacks Blog.
Reply
9-12-2007 @ 9:49PM
Xavier said...
We should call it people whining in the comments Weblog.
Keep doing what you all do TUAW. I love it.
Reply
9-12-2007 @ 9:52PM
MalibuRum said...
What a loser. How about the iUnlock that was posted earlier, is that one not functional?
Reply
9-12-2007 @ 9:55PM
Mike Schramm said...
Malibu, iUnlock, as I understand it, is the application. But what everyone's after now is a GUI version of it, something anyone can use to unlock their iPhone without special knowledge. I can't tell you how close they are, but I will say that they're very close.
Reply
9-12-2007 @ 9:57PM
Jeff said...
Belfast, UK?
Is that correct?
Reply
9-12-2007 @ 10:47PM
Klaus said...
Belfast is in Northen Ireland which is part of the UK
Reply
9-12-2007 @ 10:53PM
Angela said...
Digg it:
http://digg.com/apple/The_real_story_behind_the_iPhone_unlock_GUI_drama
(not mine)
Reply
9-12-2007 @ 11:55PM
Ramesh said...
Erika, Kudos to you! You are not just reporting this story, you are part of it! TUAW is soooo lucky to have you!
Reply
9-13-2007 @ 12:30AM
MalibuRum said...
Thanks Mike S! I've waited this long, another week or so won't matter, but I'm ready to pick up my iPhone.
Reply
9-13-2007 @ 1:19AM
Jonathan Cheng said...
I just unlocked my iPhone and the iUnlock solution is solid. I'm based in HK so if anyone else wants to swap hints and stories let me know!
http://hkiphone.blogspot.com/
Reply
9-13-2007 @ 1:28AM
Raj said...
He was trying to pull a "Bill Gates" but in more of a shyster way. Either way he just got his 5 minutes of fame/shame (it still counts)!
Reply
9-13-2007 @ 2:31AM
Ang said...
Still, if apple didn't lock the thing, this would be a non issue now.
Anyway seems like the floodgates are about to be opened. Cool
Reply
9-13-2007 @ 4:10AM
Tom said...
Pathetic.
I really love the iPhone, but all the hype is attracting low-life scum like this guy trying to make a quick buck off the hard work of others and the hype.
It's getting annoying, and I'm ready for people to move on to something else.
Reply
9-13-2007 @ 4:11AM
Matthew said...
I'm in belfast, o no lol
Reply
9-13-2007 @ 4:25AM
yoharryo said...
Good reporting guys, thanks.
Reply
9-13-2007 @ 5:24AM
Eric said...
There is a great video explaining this now on Webcastr. www.webcastr.com
Reply
9-13-2007 @ 6:15AM
Ali said...
Thanks to Erica I'm now using my iPhone as a phone too! :D
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-F5DUOcAwd68R_FyKXBlThho-?cq=1&p=50
IRAN
Carrier = IR-TCI
I want to try other carriers as well also the GPRS connection
Reply
9-13-2007 @ 9:19AM
Jim said...
A quick google search for HarroInc (the company name he uses) shows he has a penchant for scams. Even his myspace page tries to get you to click to install something.
Reply