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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Text Message Suit Against Apple OK’d

SAN JOSE (CN) - A federal judge dismissed some, but not all claims in a class action accusing Apple of intercepting and failing to deliver text messages sent from iPhones to non-Apple cell phones.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh granted in part and denied in part Apple's motion to dismiss on Nov. 19.

Lead plaintiff Adam Backhaut in May accused Apple of violating the federal Stored Communications Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and California unfair competition and consumer laws.

Backhaut claimed that if an iPhone user using the iMessage app switched to a non-Apple phone, text messages to that user would disappear because Apple would divert the message to its iMessage system. Since the user no longer had iMessage, he wouldn't get the text.

Apple filed a motion to dismiss the claims in August.

Koh found on Wednesday that the plaintiffs did not adequately make arguments to support legal action under the federal Stored Communications Act, because the law protects stored communications, not communications in transit from sender to recipient.

However, the plaintiffs did sufficiently argue under the Wiretap Act, which prohibits the interception of communications, Koh ruled.

The judge dismissed the plaintiff's unfair competition claims that stemmed from Stored Communications Act arguments, but allowed the claims stemming from the Wiretap Act to stay.

She gave plaintiffs 21 days to file an amended complaint.

Koh on Nov. 10 allowed a similar case regarding lost text messages to proceed .

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