Legal Wars Quiet Down

Two major legal battles in the Apple world wound down this week when AT&T and Verizon seemed to call a ceasefire and Apple scored a key victory over clone maker Psystar.
AT&T sued Verizon over its “map” ads that claim Verizon has more 3G coverage than AT&T. AT&T didn’t like how the maps ignore 2.5G Edge networking and seemed to suggest that no connectivity was available outside of the 3G map areas. Verizon did alter the ads to remove a “Out of touch” label for non-3G areas, but AT&T pressed on. However, this week AT&T dropped the suit, and Verizon dropped its countersuit. Perhaps the two companies decided to spend their money improving their networks rather than paying lawyers?
AT&T has since countered with its own ad spots pointing out iPhone features and the ability of its 3G network to handle data and voice at the same time.
Psystar, who makes PCs that come with Mac OS X installed, settled with Apple in their legal case. Apple got them to stop selling their Mac clones and pay $2.7 million. But Psystar’s lawyers say they will appeal the settlement to a higher court, which could take years. An interesting tidbit came from one report stating that Psystar only sold 768 Mac clones since it started.
More iPhone carrier rumors floated around this week as analysts predicted that perhaps both T-Mobile and Sprint may be able to carry the iPhone next year when AT&T exclusivity runs out. Verizon’s involvement seems less likely now, considering their strong anti-iPhone ad campaign for the Droid phone.