Verizon Sides With Samsung Against Apple's Lawsuits

[dgstorm]

Here's an interesting turn of events. Verizon Wireless has officially taken a legal stance beside Samsung against Apple's lawsuits. For those who haven't heard (maybe living under a rock), Apple sued Samsung in California on April 15 asking for a ban of its devices in the United States. This is on top of multiple similar lawsuits that Apple has brought against Samsung world-wide. There will be a hearing in the U.S. case on October 13; however, on September 23rd, Verizon filed a legal document taking the side of Samsung. The filing states, "The requested injunction of certain Samsung products will harm Verizon Wireless and U.S. consumers. It also has the possibility of slowing the deployment of next-generation networks -- such as Verizon Wireless's -- contrary to the stated goals of the U.S. government." Here's a quote from the Reuters article with some more info,

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Other U.S. operators such as AT&T Inc, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA did not immediately say whether they also plan to weigh in on the case.

It's interesting to see one of the carriers get involved in this, especially since they risk having Apple pull access to the iPhone. This really takes things to a whole new level, and puts a different perspective on it. Up until now, most folks have been discussing whether Apple or Samsung is wrong, or if the patent system is to blame, etc. No one has really brought forth the "butterfly effect" argument. It does make sense though. If Samsung's mobile and tablet products get banned from the United States, it could have a ripple effect that would impact the carriers as well as the consumers at a time when the world seems to be having an economic meltdown.

Perhaps Apple should just work out a settlement deal with Samsung and be done with it. What do you think?

Source: Reuters