All Entries Tagged With: "monopoly"
Lawsuit Over iPhone Exclusivity with AT&T Granted Class-Action Status
Back in May, a lawsuit filed in 2007 against Apple and AT&T over the iPhone exclusivity with the carrier was made public. That was actually the very first time the 5-year deal between Apple and AT&T was officially confirmed. Anyway, turns out that Judge James Ware of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California officially certified the ongoing lawsuit with class-action status on Thursday
That means that as of yesterday, every single individual in the United States who purchased any version of the iPhone since its introduction in 2007 is now part of the litigation.
For those of you who have forgotten, the now class-action lawsuit claims that Apple and AT&T have built a huge monopoly by keeping costumers within the carrier even after their two-year iPhone service contracts expire, considering that the iPhone is allegedly exclusive to AT&T for five-years.
Court document embedded in the full post.
Apple/AT&T 5 Year iPhone Exclusivity Contract Confirmed
Over the past few days, talks of an Apple iPhone coming to Verizon Wireless have intensified. However, nothing has been confirmed by the parties involved. Additionally, when the iPhone came out on 2007, USA Today originally reported that AT&T and Apple signed a five-year exclusivity contract, which has led many to believe that there is no iPhone for Verizon Wireless coming any time soon. That five-year exclusivity contract has now been confirmed by none other than Apple itself.
According to court documents submitted by the Cupertino-based company in a ongoing California Antitrust litigation filed back in 2007 against Apple and AT&T over allegations that both companies built an entire monopoly by making the iPhone exclusive to AT&T for five-years, and thereby keeping costumers within the carrier even after their two-year iPhone service contracts expire. Apple’s lawyers responded that the company never promised an unlocked iPhone after the two-year service contracts were up. The attorneys also confirmed over and over again that a five-year exclusivity contract exists between Apple and AT&T.
Google To Launch Online Version of Monopoly September 9th
On September 9th (this upcoming Wednesday), Google will be launching a very special version of Monopoly, dubbed, “Monopoly City Streets” to the public, in conjunction with Hasbro. The massive online multiplayer game will use none other than Google Maps as the gameboard, and users will be able to “own any street in the world.”
According to the website’s description, users will also be able to “use MONOPOLY Chance Cards to sabotage your mates by building Hazards on their streets.” Players will start off with $3 million in Monopoly money (which is almost the same value as a real dollar in this economy) and can build, well, lots of cool things, including: hotels, skyscrapers, malls, etc.
Just another way to consume hours upon hours of time on the interwebz. You see, I’ve never actually completed a game of Monopoly in my entire life (this I say with regret). Whatever playing group I was with either became bored, or there would be a huge argument over who got what piece — thus, calling off the game completely. That, or someone would call off the game because another was either stealing from the bank, or stealing his/her money when they left for a bathroom break.
Fun times, and you can have yours with loads of anonymous people beginning this Wednesday!
