unlocking cellphones illegal starting tomorrow

[Alex Kovell]

just an fyi for all the hackers at S67.

unlocking cellphones will be illegal, starting tomorrow.
http://mashable.com/2013/01/23/unlocking-cellphones-illegal/

Reddit petition for Librarian of Congress to rescind the decision for anyone that is interested.
http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/177zmq/unlocking_cell_phones_becomes_illegal_saturday_in/


-alex




land of the free . . .

[William LaFrance]

I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, and I haven't read the new thing, but I heard that this does not effect "legacy" devices purchased yesterday or before.

Sent from my iPhone

[Issac Gerges]

This is referring only to SIM/Carrier unlocking. Different from the more common jailbreaking/rooting.

I'm not saying that makes it right or wrong, it just affects less folks that some of the more sensational article titles I've seen imply.

[Mark D. Ratzburg]

Why it's criminally illegal is beyond me. The carriers ensure they get their money by forcing you to pay termination fees if you end the contract early.

[Grant Dobbe]

The carriers make more money on the contract than the termination fee. Plus, they also have to pay the phone's manufacturer a percentage for every subsidized phone they sell on a two-year contract regardless of whether or not the contract has been cancelled. If you buy a popular phone (like a Samsung Galaxy SIII, which retails unlocked for ~$700), and then cancel your contract, even if you pay a $400 termination fee, the carrier loses money.

It's criminally illegal because to them, lobbyists are cheaper than viable business models.

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Grant Dobbe
http://grant.dobbe.us
+1-608-469-9907

[William LaFrance]

They've got your money, sure, but they've also got your canjones now. You'll think twice about switching to [insert competitor here] if you can't unlock your phone after paying the ETF, effectively making it a brick (or heavy iPod touch).

This is notably opposite to the FCC's requirements disallowing locking of phones using certain LTE bands, such as the Verizon iPhone 5 (which comes factory unlocked with subsidy). It's also interesting that this is happening so shortly after AT&T finally offers to unlock paid-for iPhones, Verizon has to ship theirs unlocked, and Sprint will unlock for overseas use. I have no idea who lobbied for this, then. Perhaps it's to enhance prosecution of those selling stolen phones?

As Issac pointed out, this isn't jailbreaking. There's a DMCA exemption for cell phones (and I believe iPod touches by name). I've read that it's never been legal to jailbreak the iPad (and related, rooting Android tablets) because tablets aren't in the exemption, but raise your hand if that's stopped you.

I think the sensationalism isn't because this is a big issue but because of the realm. The government has decided to tell us what we can and can not do with our fully paid for personal electronics. Nobody makes a fuss when we upgrade a laptop's wireless card to a brand new N card, but switching your phone to a different network is now criminal.

(I'm still not a lawyer. Maybe some day.)

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[Steven Faulkner]

If your looking for a way to break the cycle, I would recommend picking up an unlocked phone and getting a prepaid plan via T-mobile or Straighttalk (ATT). You are still paying them money, but your free to do what you want. It will cost you more upfront but you will save ~$1000 over the course of 2 years.

-Steve

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[Grant Dobbe]

I'm switching to Ting. 

https://www.ting.com/

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[Mark D. Ratzburg]

Echoing what Steven said, Google sells unlocked Android devices directly from the Google Play store.

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[Issac Gerges]

+1 Mark. Rocking the Google Nexus 4 now and have been very happy with the device.

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[Dougal]

This makes me want to do it more.