Unauthorized Unlocking of New Mobile Phones Set to Become Illegal in U.S.

[Smartass]

'merica.

[Plutonius]

Originally Posted by NachoGrande

So I get a phone and leave AT&T PAY for the early termination fee essentially paying for the phone and I can't unlock it? Another senseless law.

AT+T has always unlocked it after you pay the early termination fee. Why would that change ?

[mrsir2009]

Originally Posted by blackburn

They cant even properly track a stolen phone. How the hell are they going to track unlocked ones?

Btw: I think it's illegal to unlock mobile phones in Portugal, but most shops do it, they just label it as an software upgrade.

They can track stolen phones, but in most cases they won't. And they probably can track unlocked ones too, but they won't

[53x12]

This is one of those laws that leave you scratching your head saying WTF?

[Starship77]

Originally Posted by felipecerda

Wow that sucks. Here in Chile every phone in the market must be unlocked by law and if a phone is locked, the carrier has to unlock it.

Same here in Brazil and many other countries. Looks like the U.S. is going in the opposite direction of the rest of the world on this one. It should be the land of the free, right?

[Plutonius]

Originally Posted by camnchar

And here I thought I owned my own phone.

Not if you sign a long term contract and accept subsidies from the provider to reduce the price of the phone.

[paul4339]

Does ATT offer discounted cell/data plans if you already own your unlocked phone? (that is, do they offer subsidized and un-subsidized plans at different prices?)

[Plutonius]

Originally Posted by lifeinhd

Oh, so now I have to sneak around to use my purchased device as I see fit. Brilliant.

How about regulating the telcos instead, so they're actually competitive and people won't need to unlock?

It's only Contract phones.

[macUser2007]

Ah, the joys of DMCA.... We are all guilty, until proven innocent.

Thank your friendly congressman, who will sell all of us in exchange for a few donations which keep him/her in office.

But they know that while large corporations pay attention to these things and can hurt their reelection chances, the Joe Publics out there are oblivious and much more concerned with hot button "issues" like banning gay marriage or abortion.

Originally Posted by Plutonius

It's only Contract phones.

BS. If you have a contract, you still have to pay your monthly fees, or pay the penalties for breaking the contract. Why should it matter if the phone is unlocked?

[WestonHarvey1]

Originally Posted by macsrcool1234

Librarian of congress? A single person can make such important determinations?

The current librarian of Congress is 83 years old.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_H._Billington

We let this senile old man make such important decisions? Given his age, hopefully he won't be around much longer.

It's amazing laws can be switched on and off like that without going through the legislature.

[Plutonius]

Originally Posted by paul4339

Does ATT offer discounted cell/data plans if you already own your unlocked phone? (that is, do they offer subsidized and un-subsidized plans at different prices?)

I don't believe they currently do which is a big complaint people have (un-subsidized plans should be much less).

[hipnetic]

Originally Posted by unplugme71

Why doesn't the government take away our first right. Almost every other freedom has been taken away as of today's date.

Give them time...they're working on it.

[LachlanH]

Can someone PLEASE explain to me where the advantage actually lies for the telcos to sell you a locked phone?

Even if your phone is unlocked and you want to use it with another provider, that doesn't stop you being billed each month for the contract you signed up to. Sooo....I don't get it?


The whole concept of phone locking is stupid.

Also something else, Jailbreaking has been ruled legal in the US has it not? Well don't most jailbreaks unlock the phone? Thus by extension wouldn't jailbreaking now be illegal?

[53x12]

Originally Posted by Woodcrest64

There are going to be road blocks setup through out the states to check people's phones. This is the officer in charge

Well police already check smart phones for data during traffic stops (at least in MI): http://vigilantcitizen.com/latestnew...traffic-stops/

[crisss1205]

So would that $4 eBay iPhone unlock be legal after this law?

[mrsir2009]

Originally Posted by lifeinhd

Oh, so now I have to sneak around to use my purchased device as I see fit. Brilliant.

How about regulating the telcos instead, so they're actually competitive and people won't need to unlock?

+1. They did that recently in New Zealand, and the deals are SO much better now... What it used to be like is Telecom (the main phone company) dominated the country's cellular infrastructure, so small carriers couldn't come in and start up. So what the government did is they took the infrastructure off Telecom and set up a company called Chorus. Chorus now owns all of the country's cell infrastructure, and they pay for all the maintenance and stuff on it, which they make up for by renting it to carriers. And they rent it to any carrier, for the same price - Making it a level playing field

[crisss1205]

Originally Posted by LachlanH

Can someone PLEASE explain to me where the advantage actually lies for the telcos to sell you a locked phone?

Even if your phone is unlocked and you want to use it with another provider, that doesn't stop you being billed each month for the contract you signed up to. Sooo....I don't get it?


The whole concept of phone locking is stupid.

Also something else, Jailbreaking has been ruled legal in the US has it not? Well don't most jailbreaks unlock the phone? Thus by extension wouldn't jailbreaking now be illegal?

This summer I will be traveling to Europe. While I am there I can get a Prepaid SIM with 600 MB of data for about $12 USD for my unlocked iPhone 5.
Now, if I had a locked AT&T iPhone and wanted to use it there, I would have to pay AT&T roaming fees for voice/text and $120 for 800MB of data.

Tl;dr
Q: What is the advantage actually lies for the telcos to sell you a locked phone?
A: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[QCassidy352]

Disgusting. Fortunately, it cannot and will not be enforced.

[lifeinhd]

Originally Posted by Plutonius

It's only Contract phones.

So? Even if I'm on contract and I unlock, I either a) have to pay the ETF set by the carrier, so they still get all the money they need for the rest of the cost of the phone, or b) continue paying the contract, so either way the telcos win whether I unlock or not. All this does is punish us consumers "cuz we can."

[BasicGreatGuy]

Originally Posted by unplugme71

Why doesn't the government take away our first right. Almost every other freedom has been taken away as of today's date.

If having an unlocked phone was a constitutional right, your point would have been valid.

[rmwebs]

Nice backwards move there.

Seriously why does the US insist on cocking up technology?

[auero]

So if I get my AT&T iPhone 5 unlocked tomorrow, it's technically okay? If I do it saturday, its illegal?

[paul4339]

Originally Posted by Plutonius

I don't believe they currently do which is a big complaint people have (un-subsidized plans should be much less).

thx!
If this is the case then then it would be bad for the carriers (in the long term) to be proponents of this policy.

Currently, if I get a subsidized phone from a major US carrier, they are 1. financing the phone 2. providing the service.

My understanding is that this policy makes it (unlocking) illegal base on copyright act (according to the Federal register)... that is, the proponents say the carrier "owns" the phone, and the subscriber/leaser cannot change the software without the "owner's" permission.

Well Walmart (and others soon) are offering plans like StraightTalk where they offer 1. service only for $45 or 2. phone financing for an additional $25.

So Walmart separated the smartphone financing from the service provider. This opens the door for ANY financier (including Apple) to lease out unlocked phones, and the sub can buy "service only" from plan re-packagers like Walmart.

Wouldn't this diminish the grip that carriers have on bundling subsidies with their plans?

.

[Dagless]

Land of the free?

[crisss1205]

Originally Posted by auero

So if I get my AT&T iPhone 5 unlocked tomorrow, it's technically okay? If I do it saturday, its illegal?

No, it will always be legal. If you BUY an iPhone 5 after tomorrow, then it would be illegal.