Obama Signs Cell Phone Unlocking Bill Into Law, iPhone Unlocking No Longer Illegal

[monaarts]

Hell yea!!! I agree 110%. But others sadly believe he's God.

On the side note, this restores things exactly how they were prior to Jan. 2013, correct? The freaking phone should not have to be paid off to be unlocked. The consumer should be able to unlock it when he damn well feels like it. It's HIS phone.

Yep... It's a shame that insurance companies can no longer have lifetime maximums and have to accept pre-existing conditions, especially for people who have life-long conditions like my nephew who is a 3 years old hemophilia that needs 3 shots a day that cost $1,700 EACH (yep, about $1.8 million a YEAR). But healthcare is less important than a couple extra bucks in your pocket.

I'm not a fan of any President because they all have secret agendas but I think it's funny how someone can bitch about Obama and call him un-American because he is trying to get us up to par with policies other countries have implemented that worked very well. Yeah, maybe "Obama-care" isn't perfect but it's better than doing nothing like the alternative would have been.

 

[cameronjpu]

I can't imagine that this is the case, but I wonder if this will mark a return to being able to factory unlock your iPhone from an eBay seller for a couple dollars. Anyone have an opinion?

 

[Chupa Chupa]

This and Bin Laden.

Yes, Bin Laden. Now Al Qaeda is toothless and terrorism in the world is no more. :roll eyes:

Please, don't embarrass yourself. It's great OBL is dead, but in the scheme of things it matters not.

 

[Plutonius]

He probably signed it at a fund raiser thinking it was an autograph .

Sometimes, you do the right things for the wrong reasons.

 

[alent1234]

I can't imagine that this is the case, but I wonder if this will mark a return to being able to factory unlock your iPhone from an eBay seller for a couple dollars. Anyone have an opinion?

most of those weren't done with their contracts

 

[adamfilip]

Fortunately, I EXIST so I can HATE on him for his pathetic presidency.

I wont argue that hes perfect or even great, but atleast he isnt a warmonger like the Bush's

 

[iDuel]

I assume this doesn't apply to Sprint who will to this day refuse to unlock my now out of contract iPhone 5.

 

[MattMJB0188]

I wont argue that hes perfect or even great, but atleast he isnt a warmonger like the Bush's

Not saying anymore on Obama. I am really happy that us consumers can legally unlock our devices when we want now. There should have NEVER should been a restriction on it anyway.

 

[bigjnyc]

So I tried unlocking my out of contract 5S the other day (moved to one of the value plans) And AT&T told me that my account reached the limit of unlock requests for the year ----- Does this mean they have to unlock my phone now? Or does this company policy still stand?

 

[MattMJB0188]

So I tried unlocking my out of contract 5S the other day (moved to one of the value plans) And AT&T told me that my account reached the limit of unlock requests for the year ----- Does this mean they have to unlock my phone now? Or does this company policy still stand?

If the device has been paid for in FULL, then yes, they would be liable to provide you with an unlock code. If they don't, they're now breaking the law.

 

[nagromme]

Note: Due to the political nature of the skin color of the twice-elected leader of the US, all of his successes are underreported and soon forgotten, his failures are unforgivably worse than other leaders', right-wing hysterical lies go unchecked by even mainstream "journalists" under the guise of "balance," and problems created before he took office undergo time travel to become his fault, while credit for his solutions goes mysteriously to his opponents, even though they will turn against their own principles and past ideas simply because a moderate president agrees with them and they'd rather make sure that no good ideas are allowed to happen in the US until the proper skin color has returned to power (which they manage to convince themselves on the surface is no part of their thinking). Therefore, this otherwise purely fact-based and non-controversial (unless you believe governments should answer to their corporate masters) discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum.

 

[cppguy]

I assume this doesn't apply to Sprint who will to this day refuse to unlock my now out of contract iPhone 5.

Everyone with an iPhone 5 is still in contract. Your contract will expire in September, if you bought it on release day.

 

[Chatter]

I am with all the smart ones here. He hasnt done anything. And even here all he did was sign a piece of paper. Its not like he did anything special. Anyone could have killed OBL and signed healthcare into law. Anyone. Why does he get credit? Its not like he was even born here. Or that he went to college. My buddy Donny Trump has the proof but the lamestream media will not show it. I know this guy who knows a guy who said he has seen Obama sneak into the Hawaii offices to plant his fake birth certificate.
I am with all of you - he is an embarassment. Its heroes like us that make this world a better place.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Only thing I support Obama on so far, remember guys, HE didn't kill Bin Laden, Seal Team 6 did.

After he commanded them to.

 

[BruiserB]

I'm confused, this says it allows 3rd party unlocking services to unlock phones. Seems like that would imply that phones under contract could be unlocked, as how would a 3rd party know if you have satisfied your contract.

Shouldn't this have been written as Carriers/Manufactures MUST unlock phones once out of contract? Either automatically or by request of of customer. And it should be done free without paying a 3rd party service.

Which is it?

 

[Jett0516]

I see where this thread is going...

 

[bigjnyc]

I'm confused, this says it allows 3rd party unlocking services to unlock phones. Seems like that would imply that phones under contract could be unlocked, as how would a 3rd party know if you have satisfied your contract.

Shouldn't this have been written as Carriers/Manufactures MUST unlock phones once out of contract? Either automatically or by request of of customer. And it should be done free without paying a 3rd party service.

Which is it?

I would imagine all of those 3rd party services that were thriving a few years ago will pop up again like unlock fusion - They were charging you to unlock your phone even if it was under contract. I don't think their methods were exactly legal though.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Really a lot of election year smoke and mirrors. The law really only will help a slim minority of cell phone users because it only makes unlocking legal once a contract is 100% completed. So if you are traveling overseas but still on contract... sorry. But when you are at the end of an ATT contract ATT will unlock your phone anyway. T-Mobile's phones are unlocked anyway.

And the funny thing is this legislation is temporary. At the next DMCA review period the LOC can make unlocking illegal again.

The only people this helps are people that bought a locked phone via a 3rd party and ATT wouldn't unlock that phone. You now can for the time being.

So again, lots of smoke and mirror. Sorry you got excited for nothing.

Obama is not running for office. LOL!

 

[sonicrobby]

I still dont understand why it was ever illegal. Im glad the government actually passed something useful and not have a pissing contest over it

 

[eyoungren]

I assume this doesn't apply to Sprint who will to this day refuse to unlock my now out of contract iPhone 5.

That is correct. Because of the unlocking agreement that the carriers agreed to in the new year and now because of this, Sprint pre-emptively rewrote their unlock policy to shift the burden of unlock to the manufacturer.

If you read it, Sprint says their no domestic unlock policy is down to manufacturer design and implementation and no longer just because Sprint doesn't want to.

If you put the blame/responsibility elsewhere then you don't have to actually do anything. Never mind what the real, original reason behind it was.

 

[OverSpun]

Will AT&T unlock phones under contract so we can use abroad sim cards for travel?

 

[H2SO4]

Hell yea!!! I agree 110%. But others sadly believe he's God.

On the side note, this restores things exactly how they were prior to Jan. 2013, correct? The freaking phone should not have to be paid off to be unlocked. The consumer should be able to unlock it when he damn well feels like it. It's HIS phone.

Don’t be so ridiculous, If you sign up to a contract then abide by it!
Within that 12-24 month period if they say you’re locked you’re locked. You’re one of those people who says I bought those CDs I can do what I like woth them.
No. You may have bought the plastic but you licensed the data on it.
That kind of attitude makes me sick.

The government should force license agreements/contracts to be in plain english and fair. After that you should be hammered if you break them.

 

[eyoungren]

Everyone with an iPhone 5 is still in contract. Your contract will expire in September, if you bought it on release day.

That may be true. But read Sprint's rewritten unlock policy. They will still refuse to do this for any phone made before January 2015 because the problem is no longer their REFUSAL but is because of the manufacturer. They rewrote the policy recently in anticipation of all of this.

 

[KdParker]

I am with all the smart ones here. He hasnt done anything. And even here all he did was sign a piece of paper. Its not like he did anything special. Anyone could have killed OBL and signed healthcare into law. Anyone. Why does he get credit? Its not like he was even born here. Or that he went to college. My buddy Donny Trump has the proof but the lamestream media will not show it. I know this guy who knows a guy who said he has seen Obama sneak into the Hawaii offices to plant his fake birth certificate.
I am with all of you - he is an embarassment. Its heroes like us that make this world a better place.

LOL....awesome.

 

[truettray]

Yep... It's a shame that insurance companies can no longer have lifetime maximums and have to accept pre-existing conditions, especially for people who have life-long conditions like my nephew...

He wasn't criticizing the Affordable Healthcare Act. He was criticizing people who think President Obama is the chosen one. Since you mentioned it, that's wonderful for your nephew.. but as someone born was a heart defect, my treatment and care have gotten much more difficult since my fantastic healthcare plan was phased out in response to the AFA. It hasn't been great for all of us. I'm not spewing any sort of partisan dogma, just sharing my own experience. It's a step in the right direction, but we've still got a long ways to go.