Unlocking Cellphones Becomes Illegal Saturday in the U.S.

Unlocking Cellphones Becomes Illegal Saturday in the U.S.

mashable.com

The clock to unlock a new mobile phone is running out.

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 cellphones 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 Jan. 26.

Unlocking a phone frees it from restrictions that keep the device from working on more than one carrier's network, allowing it run on other networks that use the same wireless standard. This c

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I guess people forget the premise behind the open sourceness of Android. The only way to load custom roms on Android devices are to unlock the phone (the S-Lock) and go from there; I'm not explaining it in depth because its a complicated process but google some of the CM9 and CM10 DIY instructions and you will see what I mean. Regardless, I paid for the *** damn phone and dammit if I want to unlock it I WILL. The implications of this are RIDICULOUS and furthermore, what if the carrier decides to include certain model tablets? What about not unlocking the phone at full price, which is what Apple has been known to do by "mistake"? BULLOCKS!!!!

mashable.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

The Librarian of Congress, for god's sake?

Seriously, if they plan to run roughshod over us, the least they could do is give such responsibilities to someone elected, instead of appointed. How are we supposed to hold these people to account?

What's that you say? Oh....

I don't get it
If I buy a phone then it's my phone

What this decision does is it takes out the ownership of the device from you
It makes the fully purchased device sit somewhere in between renting and owning.

This should, not as in it may but SHOULD, hurt the mobile market badly.
They only understand money, the manufacturers should fight against this.

If my contract ends I should be able to do whatever I want!

If people actually believe the govt can tell you to do with a phone, we are truly not a free society at all.

Its worse than parents over your shoulder all the time.
Id move out but this house is nearly an entire continent and I cant afford a passport.

reply to post by ArchPlayer


Well put.
I can unplug my home phone (from our land line) and take it over to a friends house and plug it in and use it.
I bought and paid for the cell phone, I should be free to hire anyone I want to talk on it.
Cell phone companies must be sleeping with the fed to get this favoritism.

I just want to phone home...America, come back to me.


]

Whatever will Apple do?

m.nbcnews.com...

ETA- I see Archplayer beat to it!

Well, if they are going to dictate to me how I can use my phone and what I can do with it in terms of unlocking it? I figure they should have to take it BACK if I find the contract doesn't suit me at some point rather than screw me for the rest of the cost of that phone I don't really 'own' anyway.

Isn't it Europe where all the phones are sold basically unlocked and it's the Sim-Card you're buying from a provider? Maybe I've misunderstood that. I would have hoped the "land of the free" would have moved more toward that FREE model of how one can use their own property....not the corporate nanny state backed by crippling fines or jail.

Amerika isn't a fun place to live. I want my America back.

We are slaves.
Fact.

You dont own what you pay for.
Master does.

Gawd, if they tried to do that here in Australia there would be riots

I just unlocked my iPhone 5 off Vodafone. It was as simple as going to their website, entering the IMEI code on the back of the phone then restoring the phone from iTunes.

reply to post by muzzleflash


This is true.I agree that we are slaves. I buy a video game and its
Just paying to "rent" the item to play. Not really your property. Why are we STILL using the fiat paper?
Get rid of money and let's hit reset.

So what will be the 'unlocking' penalty?

Will we be lined up with registered gun owners and sex offenders?

I'm calling BS on this as well..

Unlock I say! Rise up and Unlock!!

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
Well, if they are going to dictate to me how I can use my phone and what I can do with it in terms of unlocking it? I figure they should have to take it BACK if I find the contract doesn't suit me at some point rather than screw me for the rest of the cost of that phone I don't really 'own' anyway.

Isn't it Europe where all the phones are sold basically unlocked and it's the Sim-Card you're buying from a provider? Maybe I've misunderstood that. I would have homes the "land of the free" would have ,moved more toward that FREE model of how one can use their own property....not the corporate nanny state backed by crippling fines or jail.

Amerika isn't a fun place to live.

I want my America back.

Yes this is correct here in Europe Sims are sold separate, you buy the phone and choose your provider. Although you can buy that same phone nearly for the price of one euro but then you get a sim card with the phone but higher billing.

I call B.S. on this all the way around. Not too long ago the court ruled Apple couldn't brick the phones because it was unlawful, and now any innovation toward that is a criminal offense?

As long as these crappy phones are outdated at the three month mark, are clogged with bloatware, come expensive as all hell and are filled with mindless space consumsing bloatware, and then locked out of the box (which they mostly are) FUGG EM and the horse law they rode in on. DAMN, if they want slavery back so #ing bad ratify the 13th Amendment and get it over with. Or deport all of us legal hackers just getting to the meat of Android. I'm sure China would have a use for us. A friend of mine said that he felt this was Google's end-game.

The USA, and Canada too for that matter, need to sort out the real sh*t that is bring their countries down.

Make the cell phone manufacturers responsible for their own product and let the politicians get to work fixing what has been broken for far too long.

I am completely unnerved by this. More importantly, I am really pissed off that this happened a few months back and NOBODY heard jack **** about it until TODAY and this goes in effect in 2 days??? I want out of this country. America has far gone went to hell. Just told some people today I saw no bright future in sight. Europe may have its issues, but at least the people STILL REMEMBER what it was like back in that last war that taught them a lesson about governmental "trust". Between Hitler, Lenin, Cesceau, and Obama, I can't tell anymore who is having the biggest boner at the Orwellian Atlas Shrugged B.S. floating over these American Idol watching sheeple daily. SMGDH!!!!!

Originally posted by muzzleflash
If people actually believe the govt can tell you to do with a phone, we are truly not a free society at all.

Bingo.

If you believe a law to be unjust, you have a DUTY to disobey that law.

I choose to not unlock my phones (because i am a casual phone user, preferring to do all my "computing" on a real computer). But by God, if i feel like doing a jailbreak, i will do it. Even if a man in flowing white robes booms from the heavens commanding me to stop.

This will make all of you alot more simple to keep track of.

lmao, how exactly do they plan on enforcing this exactly.

Chill folks, you'll still be able to do it I would suspect, and since when does a stupid law stop people?