Poachers Pilfer Pwnage

iphoneunlockuk.com claimed to offer "Free Lifetime Support and Upgrades" (quoted from their website) with their original unlocking software. Now that the 2.0 hack is out, they are asking users who have already paid them £40, for another £19.99 to use the 2.0 sotware. Crooks.

Of course it's worse to sell other peoples software without an agreement and then pretend to be legit, than to just share it for free. You see that moral difference, right? This is exploitation of the customers, who believe they are supporting the developer. I'm not defending copyright breach, but i don't call it stealing either.

Feel sorry for them, but as ye sow, so shall you reap...

We have been selling various solutions to unlock the iphone since last September, all of which have been based off free software. We like to think we offer a "value-add" service since people can call us (yes our phone number is on our website) to walk through the procedures, and also come to our store if they have real difficulties. Unfortunately our staff don't work for free which is why we charge the modest amount.

The mistake we made this time was that pwnage wasn't released under the GPL (we mistakenly thought it was) and we have been co-operative and since removed the download and will be basing our next solution on GPL software.

Whois.net

Domain Name.......... iphoneunlockuk.com
Creation Date........ 2007-09-11
Registration Date.... 2007-09-11
Expiry Date.......... 2009-09-11
Organisation Name.... Jody Sanders
Organisation Address. 118 Bromyard Road
Organisation Address.
Organisation Address. Worcester
Organisation Address. WR2 5DJ
Organisation Address. Worcestershire
Organisation Address. GREAT BRITAIN (UK)

Admin Name........... Domain Administrator
Admin Address........ Namesco Limited
Admin Address........ Acton House, Perdiswell Park
Admin Address........ Worcester
Admin Address........ WR3 7GD
Admin Address........ England
Admin Address........ GREAT BRITAIN (UK)
Admin Email.......... transfers@names.co.uk
Admin Phone.......... +44.8453633630
Admin Fax............ +44.8453633631

Tech Name............ Domain Administrator
Tech Address......... Namesco Limited
Tech Address......... Acton House, Perdiswell Park
Tech Address......... Worcester
Tech Address......... WR3 7GD
Tech Address......... England
Tech Address......... GREAT BRITAIN (UK)
Tech Email........... inww@names.co.uk
Tech Phone........... +44.8453633633
Tech Fax............. +44.8453633631
Name Server.......... ns0.phase8.net
Name Server.......... ns1.phase8.net
Name Server.......... ns2.phase8.net

It's over, Check out devteam's News over at the Hackintosh Site.

"iphoneunlockuk" caved because of there illegal activity and some smart coding on the devteams part, written in their Software.

Also, Yes it is illegal to sell and to illegally offer something that is not yours or you did not code or write. There is more to this, But i will not Feed the Trolls.

After reading a few post that think it is ok to Charge for someone else's free software, PLEASE, this type of behavior is stealing the devteam's property. " Not for Commercial use" "its encoded in the software, can't get around it."

I have to conclude that a few of these post are put together just like our friend "Jody".

It's funny that when someone Blogs, there are certain characteristics in a way a person writes and words their sentences, it has a way of pointing to the same poster,
even if they use different user names and on different sites.

Please check out the Post's at the devteams forums, and decide for yourself if it is the same person that posted 2 times above me, they either think alike or are "Jody" clones.

Congrats go out to Devteam, great job, and good thinking on copyright and wording in your software, the best to all of you and the Community.

Peace.

Just in case you guys are wondering, a hell of a lot of people use that site.
I remember when I first got my iPhone and there was so much crap on forums etc about unlocking phones, I couldn't help but feel the average consumer would google 'unlock iphone' and be so confused, they'd simply return the phone.

My auntie uses that site not because she prefers to pay for free software, but because it's like having a resident geek on tap to let you know when there are updates. It's essentially the only stop she has to make to update her phone.

I know I sound preachy, but it's not as bad as everyone is making it out to be. I suggest everyone realise that it's as unethical to sell free software (DVD shrink comes to mind) as it is to unlock exclusive devices.

Simply put: Touché

it is worse than music piracy (or any kind of piracy for that matter) because not only are they ripping off other peoples work, but they are also selling it for a major profit.

Got this email a while ago from a friend who bought from these scammers!!!

support@iphoneunlockuk.com

"As you may or may not know, Apple will release iPhone 2.0 in a few weeks, an update to the iPhone software that includes a great many new features. The operating system has been written from the ground up, and so too has our software to enable you to get these features and remain unlocked.

We will continue to support iPhone 1.0 software free of charge as promised, and deliver the support and updates to keep you unlocked at this version, but if you want to upgrade your iPhone to support the version 2.0 software (and we recommend you do, to be honest), its going to be a paid upgrade - similar to upgrading from Windows XP to Windows Vista, and Tiger to Leopard on the Mac.

We have created a special price for our previous loyal customers which is £19.99. This will enable you to upgrade to iPhone 2.0 and future software updates WITHOUT having to unlock your iPhone again, as we will be delivering the firmware updates, rather than Apple, so you can restore your iPhone using iTunes using our custom firmware, which automatically keeps the iPhone unlocked and installs the necessary software for using foreign sim cards.

We feel this is a great price, and this special offer is only valid for the next 7 days.

For more information and to upgrade your account, please use this SPECIAL LINK which is tied to your account:

http://www.iphoneunlockuk.com/specialoffer.php?customer_identification=2671

Kind regards

Jody Sanders
Managing Director
iPhoneUnlockUK"