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

[Scott Plante]

Looks like the petition is having some effect. 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323494504578340623936989386.html 

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White House Backs Phone 'Unlocking' 

WASHINGTON—Americans should be able to take their used cellphones and tablets freely from one wireless carrier to another if they aren't under contract, the White House said Monday, offering the latest victory to Internet activists seeking to shape U.S. technology policy. 
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The White House said consumers should still be required to honor service agreements. 
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Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski recently said he intends to look into the issue of unlocked cellphones, a move the White House said it would support. It is unclear what regulatory authority the commission has in this case. 
The Library of Congress defended its rule-making process in a statement Monday, but it said it agreed that the issue was worthy of further review in the context of telecommunications policy. 
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----- Original Message -----

From: "Brian Mathis" <brian.mathis+ale at betteradmin.com> 
To: "Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts" <ale at ale.org> 
Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2013 10:09:11 PM 
Subject: Re: [ale] [OT] White House Petition to Legalize Mobile-Phone Unlocking 

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? 
>>> > 
>>>