Research In Motion (RIM) held an event Aug 3, 2011, where select fans/ users of RIM devices got a sneak peak at their three newest smartphones.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
The great BlackBerry blackout this month has prompted the filing of a potential class-action lawsuit in Montreal against smart-phone maker Research In Motion .
Lawyer Jeff Orenstein, of Consumer Law Group Inc., filed a lawsuit in Quebec Superior Court on Tuesday against Waterloo, Ont.-based RIM, demanding compensation for Canadian BlackBerry users left without e-mail, BlackBerry messenger service and Internet access between Oct. 11 and Oct. 14.
The worse service glitch in BlackBerry history hit tens of millions of users worldwide, and came as RIM faced other negative headlines about its declining market share and sinking stock prices.
The lawsuit, which must still be certified as a class action by a judge, was filed on behalf of a man who says he is owed $1.25 for the day-and-a-half he had no BlackBerry service. The lawsuit claims that RIM's offers of a free month of technical support for enterprise customers and free access to $100 worth of premium app downloads were not enough.
The law firm behind the suit has also launched false-advertising cases against the makers of Nivea My Silhouette "slimming" cream and against Reebok for its EasyTone shoes.
Jeff Gray