unlocking your cell phones becomes illegal

In October 2012, the Librarian of Congress, who determines exemptions to a strict anti-hacking law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), decided that unlocking mobile phones would no longer be allowed. But the librarian provided a 90-day window during which people could still buy a phone and unlock it. That window closes on January 26.

Fox News


how do you all feel about this?

ill still unlock mine.. try to stop me.. its my hardware, I bought it, I own it, I will smash it on the ground, unlock it, put it in a cannon.. wtf ever I want to do with it.

reply to post by drsfinest72


Downloading movies and music has been illegal for over a decade now. Has it slowed?

If i purchase a phone outright outside of a plan then it is my property and i will do as i wish with it.

I will still unlock mine regardless. another pointless law.

reply to post by drsfinest72


Just another reason the U.S Government will not last long. They got their knickers in a twist in public view.

just like practically everything else in n.america, you don't actually own any of the products you buy.

you paid for it, if you want to smash it on the floor it's your business.

if smashing it to bits is not "illegal", then how can unlocking it be.

if your phone comes with conditions from the phone provider or manufacturer, so should the money that the phone provider/mfr receives from you in payment, such as 70% of it has to be used to fix your driveway.

then politicians and idiot pundits wonder why there are no jobs. it's practically illegal to do anything in n.america.

Elections have consequences. Sheeple keep electing statists to congress and the presidency and this is what you get. This nation has been electing statists since Woodrow Wilson. Sheeple are to blame for the hell we all now live in.

I don't get it. Not that I have the knowledge to unlock my phone but why does it matter?

If you are not hacking into other peoples phones it should not be important what you do with your property.

This to me is just more useless paperwork. I mean really how will they enforce it? How will they know? Like all the other stuff they have made illegal I am sure this will keep it from happening, good job politicians


Raist

So here is the reason why they want to do this, and the fact that the GOV is going along with it just shows how Corps control them more then anyone. Also I wonder if they will actually start tracking this and people getting in trouble (because they can track it)

So you go to lets so ATT and sign up for 3 new accounts and get on 2yr contracts for each one so you get a $800 or so phone for $200 or less. Unlock the phone, and sell it or move it to another service provider that accepts unlocked phones.

So ATT loses money because you don't stay with them and actually pay your bill you just wanted the phone, and they lose money on the phone because over the 2yr you end up paying for it by paying your bill.

ATT is pissed because you cost them a phone and now you aren't paying you bill.

Problem people are now doing is using fake ID's to do this in other peoples names and selling off the phones.

This can be tracked but no one really does anything about it, maybe they will start. Obviously they should be going after the people that us fake ID and steal someones identity but if I want to go get a phone and ruin my credit with ATT and use the phone on T-mobile then thats my problem and I should not be breaking the law.

What they are doing and will start doing more of is basically making it against the law to buy items on credit and not pay the credit off and keep the items. Rather then just letting it go on your credit and not paying it and getting a bad credit score. That will be the next goal of corps and banks to make you go to jail for not paying your credit.

So these big corps that this effects have once again gotten into the GOV pockets and passed more laws making things work in their favor.

I consider a moral duty for everyone to not obey unlawful legislation. Slavery to corporations and monopolies are major harm and unconstitutional and against basic common law, and the geneva convention. Patents are slavery too.

Never obey illegal things. Never support slavers. Never ever its you duty to say NO!

reply to post by dc4lifeskater


Even at $200 AT&T is not losing money on the phone. Most of them are made by Foxconn.

If anything AT&T are still making $190 on the phone.

Raist

reply to post by drsfinest72


The DMCA has nothing to do with unlocking phones, it has to do with copyright infringement. Besides, it's not legislation in Congress to prohibit you from unlocking your phone.

It's just another ALLEGED infringement of consumer rights. It's nothing solid.

A hardware device you purchase is your property. Which carrier you want is a private choice, not dictated by any law. To use your smartphone on any network is just a natural evolution. The devices that don't suppory unlocking, and the freedom to choose your carrier, well, those will become obsolete.

I guess the problem is when you buy a cell phone you are buying two things: the hardware and the service.

In some cases, the contract for the service says that you have the obligation of remaining on their service for some amount of time (usually 3 years, from what I have seen). If you want to break the contract then you should pay the corresponding penalty.

Here in Portugal (from what I have seen), the cost of unlocking a phone (breaking the contract) is 25% of the price paid when you bought the phone, so in the above example it would cost 50 dollars to get the phone unlocked by ATT. When there's a contract for a specific service duration, then the price of the unlocking goes down with the time that has already passed, so after the first six months you have to pay only 80% of the original 25%.

PS: I don't have a cell phone, so I don't really know if things are as described above, I just looked at the sites of two Portuguese operators.

just let the service expire and it is legal to unlock it.

I unlocked three phones already.

reply to post by Druid42

while this is true ...

The DMCA has nothing to do with unlocking phones, it has to do with copyright infringement

the part you are missing/skipping/avoiding is the 'installed software' that comes with the phone (that is copyrighted) that most owners are trying to remove by unlocking it.

that, can become a charge of infringement to the seller ... they contracted with these 'apps' and are expected to hold true to the agreements they made ... hence, why so many contracts are a specified length of time.

According to the new law.The cell phones which was bought after jan 26 2013 alone is illegal to unlock without network provider permission. If we want to make it legal we have to sign a petition in the Link below.all join your hands and support for it.
petitions.whitehouse.gov...
It has to be done by 23rd of February .To make it legal you need to wait until 1 lakhs petition to be signed in and approved by USA government .
If thats not your case you can very well unlock with the help of online vendors like Onlinegsmunlock.com . lets pin our hope that the petition should be approved.. i just purchased an Iphone 5 and i want to unlock it really going mad. just two days more

Hense the reason for Android and LInux. Do with them as you wish.

-Okay quick question here.

When you guys say "unlocking" are you referring to "jailbreaking"- I havnt got into the nuts and bolts of this issue but I am fairly tech savvy and the term "unlocking" isnt something I am familiar with- Jailbreaking on the other hand....

If this IS about jailbreaking then I will have quite a bit to add in the way of my opinion on this matter. =P
EDIT: Okay, I got my answer- No, this isnt the same.
Frankly as long as Jailbreaking is still legal I could care less about "unlocking" (changing carriers) on a personal level since I use a basic Flip Phone for my Cell.

-That said, on a broader scope- This is worrysome. I LOL that you will be able to unlock for an "additional fee"- Absurd.