Another lawsuit has hit Apple for not building iPhones with texting/FaceTime blocking features. FaceTime is a videoconferencing app that Apple includes with its iOS and Mac devices.
Last month Apple was sued on accusations that its FaceTime app contributed to the highway death of a young girl in Texas. Now there’s another lawsuit targeting Apple’s decision not to deploy a lock-out mechanism, notes Ars Technica.
The new lawsuit is from accident victim Julio Ceja of Southern California. She was rear-ended by a texting driver, but isn’t seeking. monetary damages. Instead, the lawsuit demands that a Los Angeles Superior Court judge block Apple from selling iPhones in the Golden State until the devices are updated to include Apple’s patented technology to lock drivers out of their phones while driving.
Both lawsuits say Apple is responsible because of its “failure to install and implement the safer, alternative design for which it sought a patent in December 2008 (later issued by the United States Patent Office in April 2014) to “lock out” the ability of drivers to use FaceTime on an iPhone while driving.
