iPhone 4 Gets 11th Hour Reprieve With Obama Administration Veto On Import Ban
Fortune’s Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports that at the last minute – on the final day of a 60-day review period – the Obama Administration did the right thing and vetoed an International Trade Commission import ban on the iPhone 4 that had been scheduled to take effect on August 5′ and which would have prevented Apple from importing into the U.S. five of its Chinese-sourced products including the iPhone 4 variant that runs on AT&T’s network and was one of Apple’s best sellers during the last quarter.
Elmer DeWitt suggests that the Obama administration may have been concerned with potential political fallout from letting a Korean manufacturer (Samsung, which asserts Apple’s violation if its patents) stop an American company from importing products into its own country – especially when a U.S. court refused to ban Samsung devices that a jury found to have willfully violated several Apple patents.
For the full report, visit:
http://goo.gl/p79RrM
Full text of the Obama administration’s letter to the International Trade Commission can be found here:
http://www.scribd.com/mobile/doc/157897822