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A judge in Southern California on Friday awarded $850 to an iPhone user because AT&T Inc. reduced his download speeds in an attempt to manage usage on its network.Pro-tem Judge Russell Nadel found in favor of Matt Spaccarelli in Ventura Superior Court in Simi Valley. Spaccarelli filed a small claims case against AT&T last month, arguing the communications giant unfairly slows speeds on his iPhone 4's unlimited data plan.Nadel's ruling could pave the way for others to follow suit. AT&T has some 17 million customers with "unlimited data" plans that can be subject to throttling, representing just under half of the company's smartphone users.AT&T stopped signing up new customers for those plans in 2010, and warned last year that it would start slowing speeds for people who consume the most data. In the last few months, subscribers have been surprised by how little data use it takes for throttling to kick in —often less than AT&T provides to those on limited or "tiered" plans.Spaccarelli said his phone is being throttled after he's used 1.5 gigabytes to 2 gigabytes of data within a new billing cycle. Meanwhile, AT&T provides 3 gigabytes of data to subscribers on a tiered plan that costs the same — $30 per month.It wasn't immediately known whether AT&T would appeal the decision. AT&T area sales manager Peter Hartlove declined comment after Nadel's ruling. He argued in court that his employer has the right to modify or cancel customers' contracts if their data usage adversely affects the network.
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A small win for the little guy. I do wonder though if this will affect AT&T at all or if they will just simple shrug it off, even if more cases take them to court that is.
Quote from: CaseAgainstFaith on February 24, 2012, 04:00:07 pmA small win for the little guy. I do wonder though if this will affect AT&T at all or if they will just simple shrug it off, even if more cases take them to court that is.$850? AT&T'll laugh it off.