[ale] [OT] White House Petition to Legalize Mobile-Phone Unlocking

[Brian Mathis]

Yes, AFAIK, jailbreaking phones is still legal, but that doesn't mean
the manufacturer has to make it easy or even possible.

Jailbreak = getting out of chroot so you can do other things with the phone
Unlock = Phone will only receive service on the carrier the phone is locked to


❧ Brian Mathis


On Sat, Feb 23, 2013 at 9:20 AM, Charles Shapiro
<hooterpincher at gmail.com> wrote:
> What?  My understanding was that the DMCA provision affected *only
> unlocking* the phone, and that rooting it or installing a 3rd-party OS was
> still legal ( although it could theoretically expose you to civil suit).
> That said, my desultory research shows it _is_ illegal to jailbreak your
> tablet.
>
> http://gizmodo.com/5955130/jailbreaking-is-now-legal-for-smartphonesbut-not-tablets?tag=dmca
>
> Not that any of this makes sense.
>
> -- CHS
>
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 22, 2013 at 10:21 PM, Jim Kinney <jim.kinney at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Reread the rules. You can't root a phone that under discount-based
>> contract. It doesn't belong to you until the contract is over. It's a lease
>> to own.
>>
>> Yes, I want to remove the facebook app that Verizon installs by default on
>> my jelly-bean phone. But I can't until I own it free and clear.
>>
>> This doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to require customer service from
>> Verizon and demand they remove the app I don''t want so I have more
>> resources for what I do want.
>>
>> On Fri, Feb 22, 2013 at 7:20 PM, Brian Mathis
>> <brian.mathis+ale at betteradmin.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Why should you need to ask permission to unlock your phone?  You paid
>>> for it.  If you want to break the contract that's fine, but you would
>>> be subject to a termination fee which should cover the subsidy.  And
>>> since most contracts already have large termination fees, they can't
>>> argue that it's about that.
>>>
>>> Worse is that the phone is still locked after the contract is over.
>>> If I want to sell my old phone, I need to hope that the phone company
>>> will give their blessing, and many have rules that you must have an
>>> active account, it must be in good standing, etc... in order to unlock
>>> it.  This is *after* you have paid off the contract and probably
>>> signed onto a new one with a new device.
>>>
>>> The only reason is to increase the friction for you leaving for
>>> another carrier, and that is anti-consumer and can only happen in an
>>> oligopolistic market.
>>>
>>>
>>> ❧ Brian Mathis
>>>
>>> P.S. Why does my phone bill not go down after I have supposedly paid
>>> off the subsidy?  Because the prices of non-contract phones are
>>> inflated on purpose as an incentive to sign a contract.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Feb 22, 2013 at 11:44 AM, JD <jdp at algoloma.com> wrote:
>>> > Or we can just purchase unlocked phones. There are lots of choices.
>>> > Nobody forces anyone to buy a subsidized phone, though the fact that cell
>>> > plans do not include a BYOD discount is a problem.
>>> >
>>> > Last fall, I contacted t-mobile to get a locked phone unlocked prior to
>>> > an overseas trip. About 5 days later an email arrived with the unlock code.
>>> > No real difficulty at all, except the wait.
>>> >
>>> > Remember when cell phones were a convenience?
>>> >
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> --
>> James P. Kinney III
>>
>> Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you gain
>> at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a dog on his own tail.
>> It won't fatten the dog.
>> - Speech 11/23/1900 Mark Twain
>>
>> http://electjimkinney.org
>> http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/
>>
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>
>
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