Did Apple sell $100 million in iBricks to Steve Jobs-like hackers?

Bits highlights an interesting detail from Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) earnings conference call -- according to its Chief Operating Officer, Timothy Cook, Apple sold 250,000 iPhones to people who want to use them on networks other than AT&T's (NYSE: T).

Cook said that the bulk of those appear to have occurred after Apple's $200 price cut. Bits estimates that at least $100 million was spent on phones that Apple is doing its best to disable. If Apple succeeds, these iPhones will become iBricks. Why does Apple care so much about iPhones not running on AT&T's network? Cook confirmed that Apple does not receive payments from AT&T for iPhones that it sells but that are not activated on the AT&T network.

I think it's ironic that Apple is trying to kill hackers who want their iPhones to run on a network other than AT&T's. After all, Steve Jobs got started in in 1975 by building a blue box that enabled him to steal AT&T network access. (On one occasion, Jobs's partner, Steve Wozniak used the blue box to dial Vatican City, identified himself as Henry Kissinger -- imitating his German accent -- and asked to speak with the sleeping pope.)

But now that Jobs is part of the establishment, he wants to pull the ladder up behind him. What do you think?

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in Apple or AT&T.