Apple calls lawyers over phoney iPhones

Apple has called in the lawyers over a site that was helping Windows Mobile owners play iPhone dress-ups.

Paul O' Brien, founder of Windows Mobile community site Modaco.com, posted a screenshot of the iPhone user-interface and a link to another site where users were able to download and install the screenshot, which allowed the Apple icons to be linked to the corresponding functions on smart phones running on Windows -- effectively giving Microsoft machines a makeover.

O'Brien reported on his blog that after posting the link and screenshot -- not the installation files themselves -- he received a letter from lawyers O'Melveny & Myers LLP, on behalf of Apple.

According to Modaco.com, the text of the letter reads: "While we appreciate your interest in the iPhone, the icons and screenshot displayed on your Web site are copyrighted by Apple, and copyright law explicitly prohibits unauthorised display and distribution of copyrighted works."

O'Brien has since taken down the link and the screenshot. He described the furore on his blog as: "A bit excessive IMHO".

Apple has a history of rigorously policing its intellectual property. Among those which have received lawyers' letters have been Mach5Products, which makes the Profit Pod, a device for collecting data from vending machines and Liquid Air Tab, which was on the receiving end of a preliminary action for using the term 'spodradio'.