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Unlocking Cell Phones Now Illegal In The US

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"Unlocking Cell Phones Will Be Illegal In The US Starting Saturday
Yannick LeJacq | January 25 2013 11:58 AM


The practice of configuring a mobile phone to avoid specific carrier network restrictions known as “unlocking” will become illegal in the U.S. on Saturday. (1-26-13)................

The Librarian of Congress has the power to determine what exemptions can be allowed to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA. But as Mashable reports, technology activists are beginning to question the law and the amount of discretion that the Librarian of Congress was granted to determine its application.

"Unlocking" a phone essentially involves removing security features that keep the phone locked into a particular mobile carrier network; once unlocked, a phone can therefore work across multiple carrier networks. ...for users travelling internationally, it allows them to use their phones across different networks without racking up exorbitant carrier fees."
 
It's important to note that this isn't really a "new" rule. It just took the courts this long to rule on whether carrier unlocking counted as modifying the software in a method not in compliance with the licensing or whatever. Once the decision was made, there was a grace period that just ended.

It's also bull****. I own that flipping phone, I can modify it however I damn well please. The carrier's interest ends at the cell phone tower, the worst they should be able to do is cancel my service and charge whatever termination fee is in the contract I sign.
 
It's important to note that this isn't really a "new" rule. It just took the courts this long to rule on whether carrier unlocking counted as modifying the software in a method not in compliance with the licensing or whatever. Once the decision was made, there was a grace period that just ended.

It's also bull****. I own that flipping phone, I can modify it however I damn well please. The carrier's interest ends at the cell phone tower, the worst they should be able to do is cancel my service and charge whatever termination fee is in the contract I sign.

You are wrong unless you bought the phone unlocked which very few American's do.

In the US almost all phones are subsidized, hence you are paying for the phone over your contract... it is especially relevant for the expensive iPhones.... unless you actually believe that the nice shinny iPhone 5 actually only costs 200 dollars..... if so, then I have a bridge in San Francisco I want to sell you.

However saying that I am not sure if this ban continues after the end of the contract period or not.. if it does, then it is idiotic to say the least. In Europe there is no such ban after the end of the contract and you can get the phone unlocked during the contract period if you pay for the phone.
 
You are wrong unless you bought the phone unlocked which very few American's do.

In the US almost all phones are subsidized, hence you are paying for the phone over your contract... it is especially relevant for the expensive iPhones.... unless you actually believe that the nice shinny iPhone 5 actually only costs 200 dollars..... if so, then I have a bridge in San Francisco I want to sell you.

However saying that I am not sure if this ban continues after the end of the contract period or not.. if it does, then it is idiotic to say the least. In Europe there is no such ban after the end of the contract and you can get the phone unlocked during the contract period if you pay for the phone.

You don't own that bridge.
 
You don't own that bridge.

We may own the phone, but we do not own the infrastructure it runs on. Take away the infrastructure, and the phone does not work. Therefore, those who own the infrastructure have a right to determine the terms and conditions for those who access and use that infrastructure.

Which is unfortunate for us, but that's the way it is. And is also why you cannot compare a cell phone, by itself, to a bridge. But, even in using a bridge, we must abide by the rules set up by those who do own the bridge. Of course, nobody is forcing us to drive over the bridge. Neither is anybody forcing us to use a cellphone, or to access the infrastructure that cellphones use.
 
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We may own the phone, but we do not own the infrastructure it runs on. Take away the infrastructure, and the phone does not work. Therefore, those who own the infrastructure have a right to determine who uses that infrastructure, and what rights they have while using that infrastructure.....

Which is unfortunate for us, but that's the way it is. And is also why you cannot compare a cell phone to a bridge. But, even in using a bridge, we must abide by the rules set up by those who do own the bridge. Of course, nobody is forcing us to drive over the bridge. Neither is anybody forcing us to use a cellphone to access the infrastructure it uses.

You own the phone (if indeed you do own the phone) and the SOFTWARE instance that, among other things, makes it connect to that infrastructure. There are a number of different softwares that use connections to that infrastructure. Unlocking doesn't affect that dynamic.
 
My problem is that for as much as they charge you for a telephone, even if it is at "special rate", then it is your phone regardless of what their fine print says. The next time mine breaks after I am out of my contract I am switching to straight talk or one of those jobbies. I am sick of AT&T already.
 
You own the phone (if indeed you do own the phone) and the SOFTWARE instance that, among other things, makes it connect to that infrastructure. There are a number of different softwares that use connections to that infrastructure. Unlocking doesn't affect that dynamic.

Unlocking changes the way you access the infrastructure, and if you are under contract (which you are, if you use a cellphone), then you have broken the contract.
 
Unlocking changes the way you access the infrastructure, and if you are under contract (which you are, if you use a cellphone), then you have broken the contract.

Agreed. As a side issue, I don't believe it's in the public's interest to allow the phone giants to lock in exclusivity like that. If they wish to give away a free phone in exchange for you exclusively using their network, fine. But it should always be the case that, if you buy the phone, own it outright, you can choose to use whatever network you wish.
 
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It's important to note that this isn't really a "new" rule. It just took the courts this long to rule on whether carrier unlocking counted as modifying the software in a method not in compliance with the licensing or whatever. Once the decision was made, there was a grace period that just ended.

It's also bull****. I own that flipping phone, I can modify it however I damn well please. The carrier's interest ends at the cell phone tower, the worst they should be able to do is cancel my service and charge whatever termination fee is in the contract I sign.

The contract you agree to when you subscribe to a carrier makes such modifications an abrogation of your contractual duties.
 
You own the phone (if indeed you do own the phone) and the SOFTWARE instance that, among other things, makes it connect to that infrastructure. There are a number of different softwares that use connections to that infrastructure. Unlocking doesn't affect that dynamic.

No, you don't own the software. You merely are licensed to use the software
 
Agreed. As a side issue, I don't believe it's in th public's interest to allow the phone giants to lock in exclusivity like that. If they wish to give away a free phone in exchange for you exclusively using their network, fine. But it should always be the case that, if you buy the phone, own it outright, you can choose to use whatever network you wish.

I disagree. If you are under contract with one carrier, and then unlock your phone so that you can access the infrastructure of another carrier, then you are using that other carrier's infrastructure without paying for what that carrier's customers would be paying for. That is theft.

NOTE: If you feel that your carrier is reaming you on charges, there is a simple solution. Choose another carrier. Might not be as good as unlocking your phone, but it's legal.
 
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Agreed. As a side issue, I don't believe it's in the public's interest to allow the phone giants to lock in exclusivity like that. If they wish to give away a free phone in exchange for you exclusively using their network, fine. But it should always be the case that, if you buy the phone, own it outright, you can choose to use whatever network you wish.

I think that the "public interest" is a valid argument, but unfortunately the pro-corporate SCOTUS is unlikely to see it that way
 
"Unlocking Cell Phones Will Be Illegal In The US Starting Saturday
Yannick LeJacq | January 25 2013 11:58 AM


The practice of configuring a mobile phone to avoid specific carrier network restrictions known as “unlocking” will become illegal in the U.S. on Saturday. (1-26-13)................

The Librarian of Congress has the power to determine what exemptions can be allowed to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA. But as Mashable reports, technology activists are beginning to question the law and the amount of discretion that the Librarian of Congress was granted to determine its application.

"Unlocking" a phone essentially involves removing security features that keep the phone locked into a particular mobile carrier network; once unlocked, a phone can therefore work across multiple carrier networks. ...for users travelling internationally, it allows them to use their phones across different networks without racking up exorbitant carrier fees."

Ah yes, even more laws created by a government that values corporate interests over citizen's rights. 'Merica. Land of the free my ass.
 
The contract you agree to when you subscribe to a carrier makes such modifications an abrogation of your contractual duties.

Yes. Which carries a penalty of paying for the rest of my phone.

I dont think you guys get it. You can go to jail for violating the DMCA by modifying your own property. Even under contract, you own the phone.

The bull**** part is how they decide im only licensing the software. Thats like saying im licensing a steering wheel from Honda.
 
Yes. Which carries a penalty of paying for the rest of my phone.

I dont think you guys get it. You can go to jail for violating the DMCA by modifying your own property. Even under contract, you own the phone.

The bull**** part is how they decide im only licensing the software. Thats like saying im licensing a steering wheel from Honda.

Yes, you owm the phone. You dont own the software.

The way "they" decide you're only licensing the software is that you agree that you are only licensing the software when you agree to the carriers contract
 
Yes, you owm the phone. You dont own the software.

The way "they" decide you're only licensing the software is that you agree that you are only licensing the software when you agree to the carriers contract

If every single auto manufacturer said you can only license the gas pedal, and they get to decide which roads and how fast the pedal works on, and you can be jailed for driving out of network, you'd throw a fit.

Add a spoiler? Jail. Repaint it? Jail. Tires other than manufacturer-approved? Jail.
 
Trying pretty hard to keep me from switching to a new company is all this is.

Guess I will need to stay with my old provider to avoid getting into a new long term contract.

Isn't it a shame that I couldn't just keep using that perfectly good phone(which I own now)with different carrier.
 
a better question, will such a law even be enforceable at any significant level?
 
If every single auto manufacturer said you can only license the gas pedal, and they get to decide which roads and how fast the pedal works on, and you can be jailed for driving out of network, you'd throw a fit.

Add a spoiler? Jail. Repaint it? Jail. Tires other than manufacturer-approved? Jail.

If pigs had wings, they'd fly
 
..Doing it anyway..FU
 
If pigs had wings, they'd fly

Yeah. Ridiculous idea, isnt it?

And yet we accept it from cell phone companies. The software is just as integral to a phone as a steering wheel is to a car.

I should be able to modify my phone, and the carrier should be able to respond with whatever my contract says they can do. Like a $250 early terminarion fee which literally every carrier does for subsidized phones. The system works fine.

So why jail?
 
Yeah. Ridiculous idea, isnt it?

And yet we accept it from cell phone companies. The software is just as integral to a phone as a steering wheel is to a car.

I should be able to modify my phone, and the carrier should be able to respond with whatever my contract says they can do. Like a $250 early terminarion fee which literally every carrier does for subsidized phones. The system works fine.

So why jail?

I disagree with the crimimalization of contract law, but I also disagree with your position that you can do whatever you want with software you don't own
 
The cell companies already impose a substantial penalty for ending your contract early. It seems to me that is the best mechanism for allowing them to recoup the cost of subsidizing the price of the phone they provide at a discount. This scheme is an invasion of privacy to enforce and violates the common sense notion that you own what you thought you purchased.
 
It's important to note that this isn't really a "new" rule. It just took the courts this long to rule on whether carrier unlocking counted as modifying the software in a method not in compliance with the licensing or whatever. Once the decision was made, there was a grace period that just ended.

It's also bull****. I own that flipping phone, I can modify it however I damn well please. The carrier's interest ends at the cell phone tower, the worst they should be able to do is cancel my service and charge whatever termination fee is in the contract I sign.

Ahhh Corporatism. **** you and pay up please. Gotta love the Corporate State.
 
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