Man who unlocked nearly 2M AT&T phones gets 12 years in prison

Re:Man who unlocked nearly 2M AT&T phones gets 12 years in p... by silisili on Sunday September 19, 2021 @09:37PM (#28589586)

I'm curious how they determine it cost ATT 200M in revenue. If your business model relies on people who own their own device being stuck with you, perhaps it's time to look in the mirror.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Man who unlocked nearly 2M AT&T phones gets 12 years in p... by KindOne on Sunday September 19, 2021 @10:59PM (#28589985)

I guess AT&T makes about $106 USD for every locked phone they sell?

$201,497,430.94 (USD) / 1,900,033 (phones) = $106.049 (USD per phone)

I used the numbers from this link:

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/fraudster-sentenced-prison-lo...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Man who unlocked nearly 2M AT&T phones gets 12 years in p... by dcgudeman on Sunday September 19, 2021 @11:24PM (#28590114)

Isn't it pretty common to subsidize the cost of phones by requiring a certain length of service? What business model would you propose?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Man who unlocked nearly 2M AT&T phones gets 12 years in p... by silisili on Sunday September 19, 2021 @11:30PM (#28590137)

That's called a contract. You still have to pay money to end your contract early.

Carriers, to my knowledge, do not sell phones at a loss without a contract in place.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Man who unlocked nearly 2M AT&T phones gets 12 years in p... by x0x0 on Monday September 20, 2021 @01:58AM (#28590727)

from the doj press release:

> AT&T has further determined that the loss it suffered because customers, whose cellular phones were illegally unlocked, failed to complete payments for their cellular telephones was $201,497,430.94.

There's really no effective way to collect amounts of money not worth suing over when someone stops paying on a contract like this.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Man who unlocked nearly 2M AT&T phones gets 12 years in p... by silisili on Monday September 20, 2021 @04:54PM (#28598875)

Thanks. This actually answers my initial questions. So basically, deadbeats gaming the system :(.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Man who unlocked nearly 2M AT&T phones gets 12 years in p... by x0x0 on Tuesday September 21, 2021 @12:50PM (#28606969)

Deadbeats and companies.

The latter fully control their lending standards, and can pull back on lending to poor credit risks.

[ Parent | on HN ]