Hold up, THIS could be a GOOD thing!
This means you can pay your contract, have your phone unlocked by the carrier. The only thing this prevents is someone stealing/finding your phone, wiping it, unlocking it, and selling it on eBay/CL. This allows carriers to track/create lists of authorized iPhone's. When one is found that is not authorized, that buyer, seller, user can serve time - or turn over the one who sold it to them until they locate the one who unlocked it - ie. like gun laws. If you sell a gun to someone who uses it in a crime, you are just as guilty if you failed to do a background check. Buyer has to verify it is legitimately unlocked (not a stolen device).
This may sound like a bad thing, but it might be a VERY good thing in the end.