Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Motorola legal tie to pull pricey Aura phone off eBay

Once you�ve grown tired of your mobile phone then it�s your prerogative to flog it on eBay, right? Not if you buy Motorola�s upcoming Aura phone, because the firm�s penned a contract to prevent secondhand sales.

Motorola's Aura: won't appear on eBay

A source close to the company told Register Hardware that in order to maintain Aura�s glow of exclusivity, buyers will be required to �sign into a contract that states they can�t sell it on eBay�.

The source added that if an Aura owner wants to sell their phone after they�ve bought it then they�ll only have one option: to sell it back to the manufacturer.

It�s thought that Aura will cost somewhere in the region of $2000 (�1234/�1555), but what price Motorola will offer you for a secondhand model is still unknown.

Presumably, each Aura sold will carry a unique id number, possibly above and beyond an IMEI code, that�ll be linked to a specific buyer. So should you shirk your contractual obligations and offer your handset for auction, then Motorola�s legal department will come knocking on your door.

Motorola hasn�t officially confirmed when Aura will be available in the UK, but the source also told us that it�ll be in shops around the time of this year�s Clothes Show Live � which starts on 5 December.

source

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