Roger Fingas
A California lawsuit over texts lost in Apple's iMessage network can't proceed as a group case, a judge ruled, as it isn't clear all of the proposed members were impacted by a "contractual breach or interference" originating from iMessage.
U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh stated that even if plaintiff Adrienne Moore might be accurate in blaming "systemic flaws" in iMessage for causing problems with text messaging, that doesn't help the court in deciding whether iMessage "caused the proposed class members to suffer any interference," according to Bloomberg.
Moore's original complaint noted that when she switched from an iPhone 4 to a Android-based Samsung phone, she was suddenly unable to receive texts from people with iPhones. The issue stems from the fact that iMessage links iPhone numbers and Apple IDs, and prefers the latter, since it allows messages to reach someone on any iOS or OS X device.
If a person switches to a non-Apple phone, however, texts from other iPhone owners will by default vanish into the ether. Moore's suit was filed prior to Apple deploying a web tool for separating phone numbers from iMessage.
The problem penalizes people for choosing an alternative product, Moore's court filing said, preventing them from getting the full benefits of their cellphone service.
The latest ruling helps Apple, as it might otherwise have had to spend more on defense, making an out-of-court settlement more likely.
AppleInsider Staff
Malcolm Owen
Oliver Haslam
Andrew O'Hara
Wesley Hilliard
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
29 Comments
Please never let this person have an iPhone ever again.
I love Apple, but they screwed up here, confirmed by their web tool development - ex post facto.
[quote name="PotatoLeekSoup" url="/t/187494/judge-denies-group-status-for-lawsuit-targeting-apple-over-lost-imessage-texts#post_2756951"]I love Apple, but they screwed up here, confirmed by their web tool development - ex post facto.[/quote] It was an unforseen consequence, Remember this all start during a time of limited text plans all allowed people not to use up text plans and send media files outside the cell text network. People like the feature and were not complaining about it when they were using imessage. The good thing was Apple address the issue quickly once it was made know. Other companies were not so forthcoming on their issues. I would like to see the justification of value of this person lost text msgs. She will need to show how she was damage by not get a few text msgs until the issue was resolved.
Seems like a case of "let's sue the rich corporation because I can". I'm not saying Apple isn't at fault, but it just seems very opportunistic.
Judge Lucy Koh sided with Apple? Pinch me.