Dan Lyons, who writes a blog where he impersonates Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple Inc., proposed "Operation Chokehold" in response to AT&T saying it might charge higher monthly fees to heavy users -- those with iPhones in particular -- who are clogging its network, The Dallas Morning News reported Thursday.
Writing as "Fake Steve," Lyons blogged "On Friday, December 18, at noon Pacific time, we will attempt to overwhelm the AT&T data network and bring it to its knees."
"The goal is to have every iPhone user (or as many as we can) turn on a data-intensive app and run that app for one solid hour," he wrote. "Send the message to AT&T that we are sick of their substandard network and sick of their abusive comments."
Word of the prank got to AT&T, which quickly responded, the report said.
"We understand that fake steve.net is primarily a satirical forum, but there is nothing amusing about (an) attempt to deliberately degrade service … for more than 80 million customers," spokeswoman Sarah Andreani said in an e-mail, calling it "an irresponsible and pointless scheme to draw attention to a blog."
Amid speculation he might be facing legal trouble, Lyons is attempting to pull back, the report said.
"From our point of view, this is all just a joke that has spun out of control and gained a life of its own," Lyons wrote.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
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