[ale] [OT] White House Petition to Legalize Mobile-Phone Unlocking
Tim Watts
tim at cliftonfarm.org
Sat Mar 9 12:28:57 EST 2013
True, but at the WH's prodding they've basically agreed it's a
boneheaded policy and will revisit it.
But yeah, it did cause me a minor head explosion to learn that Congress
has delegated a good chunk of law making to the LoC. WTF.
On Sat, 2013-03-09 at 11:34 -0500, Charles Shapiro wrote:
> Hah hah. Too bad it's not *up* to the White House. The library of
> Congress is part of the legislative branch.
>
>
> -- CHS
>
>
>
> On Tue, Mar 5, 2013 at 11:15 AM, Scott Plante <splante at insightsys.com>
> wrote:
>
> Looks like the petition is having some effect.
>
> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323494504578340623936989386.html
>
> =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
>
> 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.
> ...
> The White House said consumers should still be required to
> honor service agreements.
> ...
> 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.
> ...
>
> ----- 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?
> >>> >
> >>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 490 bytes
Desc: This is a digitally signed message part
URL: <http://mail.ale.org/pipermail/ale/attachments/20130309/7272bfab/attachment.sig>
More information about the Ale
mailing list