A while ago a lawsuit was filed which basically alleges that AT&T has formed a monopoly over the iPhone due to the five year exclusivity agreement with Apple, well the word is that lawsuit has now been given certification as a class action lawsuit.
According to Nilay Patel over on Engadget, and by way of an article over on Wired, this means the class action lawsuit now includes anyone that purchased an iPhone on AT&T.
The lawsuit came about because iPhone customers that signed into a 2 year agreement weren’t told about the exclusivity deal for 5 years with AT&T and thus meaning iPhone customers would be held to AT&T for a further 3 years if they still wanted to use their iPhone.
On Thursday, Judge James Ware of the US District court of the Northern District of California gave his stamp of approval on the lawsuit and granted class certification. The lead counsel for the plaintiffs of the suit, Mark Rifkin in an interview with Wired said…“The court has allowed [multiple] plaintiffs to represent 20 million consumers who have been forced to use AT&T for iPhone voice and data service, despite an agreement that allows them to terminate at any time and presumably switch carriers.”