Bitter fruit: Area company sues BlackBerry in dispute over old technology

A Peabody company that takes old stuff off the hands of tech companies and then resells it says the troubled Canadian phone maker accepted its bid for old memory units - then tried to extort more money after the company had already committed to sell the memory to its own customers.

In its suit, filed yesterday in US District Court, CNE Direct said that last November, BlackBerry agreed to accept $6.4 million for the memory parts it no longer needed because its phone business continues to fall apart. But after CNE found Chinese phone makers willing to buy the parts from it, the suit charges, BlackBerry refused to sell at the agreed to price and instead demanded another $1.7 million.

CNE is seeking the profits it says it lost on the deal plus damages.