Skip to Content

Free TUAW iPhone app -- try it now!
AOL Tech

class action posts

Filed under: Accessories, Macbook Pro, MacBook, MacBook Air

Lawsuit claims MagSafe power cord not so safe

It was just a few days ago we were talking about hacked MagSafe connectors, and now a lawsuit seeking class action status claims the innovative connectors are a fire hazard and a risk to life, limb, and property.

As an example, here's a link to some Flickr images of what is claimed is a melted MagSafe connector.

The complaint, filed last week in San Jose, California says that eventually the cord will fray from heat or wear, with a resulting danger of fire and injury. The suit, filed by plaintiffs Tim Broad, Naotaka Kitagawa and Jesse Reisman says Apple is aware of the problem and has done nothing about it.

The suit also claims when people demonstrate the problem to Apple, the company suggests they buy another $80.00US cable. Actually, we reported in August that Apple was replacing damaged or worn cables if they were not subject to abuse.

Apple has not commented on the lawsuit. It will be interesting to watch this one wind through the courts.

The power connector was introduced at Macworld in January, 2006. It has not always received positive reviews, even at the Apple Store.

Filed under: Hardware, iPhone, App Store

Another day, another lawsuit

A Northern California man is not happy with his iPhone. AppleInsider reports that Jason Medway thinks his iPhone performs poorly, and believes Apple advertising is tricking people into purchases the device can't live up to.

Medway, through his attorney, is seeking US $5 million dollars in damages. The suit argues that, because of Apple's misrepresentations, "thousands of customers who purchased Apple's iPhone 3G and accompanying 3G service from AT&T have experienced broken promises regarding the phone's transmission speeds."

This is not the first lawsuit over the 3G iPhone. The legal fireworks began last August with a suit claiming the iPhone performance was not up to par. That suit, was followed by other legal claims complaining about performance, download speeds, and badly written programs available at the App Store.

Last year, Wired magazine commissioned an independent study that found most of the speed related problems on the iPhone had to do with networks, and not the iPhone hardware.

Apple has not commented on any of these lawsuits, other than in a brief legal response in a similar lawsuit in September. Apple seemed to imply that people should not believe everything they hear or see in ads. Apple's attorneys said "Plaintiff's claims, and those of the purported class, are barred by the fact that the alleged deceptive statements were such that no reasonable person in Plaintiff's position could have reasonably relied on or misunderstood Apple's statements as claims of fact."

Filed under: Bad Apple, iPod nano

Original iPod nano owners benefit from scratch settlement

The first generation of iPod nano models may have been small and sleek, but they also apparently had an image problem -- mainly, that it rapidly grew difficult to see the screen after the nicks and scratches began to accumulate on the face of the player. As far back as 2005, users expressed their displeasure over the nano's likelihood for damage, including cracks in the screen in some cases.

Thanks to a now-settled class action lawsuit, nano owners who experienced the scratchies can apply for a refund of $15 (if the iPod shipped with a slip case, as later ones did) or $25 (for no-case shipments). You can get all the details from the settlement website. Refunds may take up to a year (!) to arrive.

[via AppleInsider]

Filed under: Bad Apple, iPhone

Man to sue over 1.1.1 iBricking

ComputerWorld reports that Timothy Smith, an iPhone owner in California, plans to sue Apple for violating antitrust law. His claim rests on the fact that Apple forces consumers to use AT&T as their sole wireless carrier and that the 1.1.1 update bricked phones that were unlocked for other carriers. This sole agreement with AT&T is, according to his suit, anticompetitive, forcing customers to pay more for their phones and for the cell phone service than they would in a competitive market. The suit goes on to add that Apple knew that the probable result of the update would brick unlocked iPhones.

If you're feeling in a litigious mood or if you just want to rubberneck to see what the fuss is about, check out this website set up by the Law Offices of Van Smith and Fernandez. It's got some spiffy photos at the top with a guy on a phone (it's probably not an iPhone) and a couple of lawyers talking (probably neither Van Smith or Fernandez).

Filed under: Hardware, iPhone

New iPhone class action filed in NY over iPhone SIM lock-in, international roaming fees

You know what they say: let the good times class action lawsuits roll! Or something like that. The latest in what I'm sure is to be a long list of iPhone-related class action lawsuits was filed in New York today over the iPhone's SIM card lock-in, as well as what the plaintiff alleges is Apple withholding of information on roaming data charges. The plaintiff, Herbert H. Kliegerman, wants the iPhone unlock code, and he also wants to restrain Apple from selling iPhones without disclosing both that the included SIM cards are locked to AT&T, and that users could incur roaming data charges when traveling internationally. We have a PDF of the lawsuit (sent to us directly by the plaintiff), but considering the facts that:
  • Kliegerman's complaints seem to have much more to do with AT&T's practices than Apple's
  • US SIM cards, to my knowledge, are always locked to their particular provider, meaning travelers have always had to purchase some kind of other phone service or an international SIM
  • There's plenty of information available at AT&T's site about their international roaming practices, as well as extra plan options to provide for international calls and data usage
I don't think Kliegerman has much of a leg to stand on. Plus, he sent this to us himself, which reeks of digging for 15 seconds in the spotlight - but who am I to shoot down his hopes? Anyone, particularly those who travel and know more about US mobile phone company practices, care to place some bets as to how far he'll get with this?

Filed under: Apple Financial

Class action lawsuits filed against Apple

Just when you think Apple's financial woes have begun to recede, Forbes.com alerts us to a slew of recently filed class action lawsuits that all have the big fruit in their sights. First up is yet another complaint alleging that Apple has created a monopoly by tying iTS purchases to the iPod and only the iPod. Even though suits like this have come and gone, the court has interestingly denied Apple's motion to dismiss.

Next in line is a suit over the MacBook's iBook G4's "abnormally high rate" of logic board failure. This suit was filed Nov. 7th, and Apple still has time to respond.

A third suit is coming from PhatRat Technology LLC, who is calling patent infringement on the Nike+iPod product. A response from Apple is still pending here as well.

Last (though possibly not least?) is a securities class action suit against the company and "certain current and former officers and directors" over all this backdated stock option grant business.

That's about everything Forbes has on the Apple lawsuit list for now. Think it's still worth it to wish Apple a happy new year?

Filed under: Bugs/Recalls, Bad Apple, Apple

Apple settles 17-inch Studio Display class action

Apple has agreed to a settlement in the Class Action Suit regarding allegedly defective inverter boards that caused problems with 17-inch Studio Displays. Although Apple won't admit any wrongdoing (as is usually the case in these kinds of settlements), it has agreed to settle the claim in order to avoid the exorbitant expense of a trial. The lawsuit claimed that "the inverter board of the Apple 17-inch LCD Studio Display was faulty, causing the gradient dimming of the top or bottom half of the screen of the Display and a power light to constantly blink on and off in a short-short-long pattern to signal a problem."

Under the terms of the agreement, Apple will provide cash refunds ranging from $75 - $400 to claimants who had their affected displays repaired. The amount refunded will depend on when the repair was performed and whether it was an Apple repair or a repair by a a third party. Only US residents are eligible for the settlement. Additional details, claim forms and a FAQ are available on the suit info site.

How many of you are covered by this settlement and plan to submit a claim?

Filed under: Hardware, Bugs/Recalls, MacBook

Disgruntled MacBook owners organising class action suit

AppleInsider has a story about a group of Mac users who have had enough of their faulty MacBooks, and they're not going to take it anymore. The group has set up a page at ClassAction.com and is looking for support to force Apple into a recall of the company's newest consumer notebook. AppleInsider also points to macbookrandomshutdown.com, a site dedicated to RSS (random shutdown syndrome) that already has over 1,250 reports of afflicted laptops.

This shouldn't be much of a surprise. There have been reports of random MacBook shutdowns for months, and Apple even copped to the problem last month, but there's not been much movement since then.

I didn't sign up at either of the petitioning sites, but I could have. I bought my fiancee a MacBook about a month after they were released and within a week it was shutting down at will. We were lucky, though. We made an appointment at Apple's main store in London and after the Genius witnessed two shutdowns in as many minutes, he said he'd give us a brand new MacBook. Things have been OK so far.

Are any of you still suffering with the same problem? How has Apple handled your complaints? Sound off in comments.

Filed under: iPod Family, iTS

Apple to face iPod/iTunes antitrust suit

That's right, folks. Thomas Slattery is suing Apple because the iPod won't play music files from other online music stores, and because you have to use iTunes to sync your music to your iPod. A judge in California ruled that Apple must face some of Slattery's charges (though it did dismiss a few other claims including 'unjust enrichment with prejudice,' which doesn't sound good).

Now, I'm no lawyer, but I hope that this lawsuit doesn't have any legs because one of the biggest strengths of the iPod/iTunes combo is the level of integration between the two.

[via Paul Thurrot's Internet Nexus]

Tip of the Day

F11 moves all your windows off the screen so you can quickly glance at your desktop. F10 shows you every open window in an application. F9 shows every open window for every application that isn't hidden or in the dock.


Follow us on Twitter!
 TUAW [Cafepress]

Featured Galleries

DNC Macs
Macworld 2008 Keynote
Macworld 2008 Build-up
Google Earth for iPhone
Podcaster
Storyist 2.0
AT&T Navigator Road Test
Bento for iPhone 1.0
Scrabble for iPhone
Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer Briefcase
Apple Vanity Plates
Apple booth Macworld 07
WorldVoice Radio
Quickoffice for iPhone 1.1.1
Daylite 3.9 Review
DiscPainter
Mariner Calc for iPhone
2009CupertinoBus
Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D
MLB.com At Bat 2009
Macworld Expo 2007 show floor

 

More Apple Analysis

AOL Radio TUAW on Stitcher