Illegal to unlock your phone

It's now illegal to unlock your phone to use one a different carrier's network unless you have the carrier's permission:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/now-illegal-unlock-cellphone/story?id=18319518

Here's a petition. It's already got over 17,000 signatures.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/make-unlocking-cell-phones-legal/1g9KhZG7

 

Hopefully someone finds a way to litigate under anti-trust laws etc etc...

What a load of shit. It's beyond me anyway but more power to those who'd do it.

 

Im sure that this wont last long. On the plus side you can still buy an unlocked phone outright and take it to any carrier. I think its stupid that you are paying for the phone (through a carrier) and cant do what you want with it.

 

The difference is you are getting the device at a discount price through a carrier versus buying it direct

 

But we're also locked into that carrier for 1-2 years depending on the carrier. They're getting their money, just not upfront.

 

I know the difference, but you are still paying for the device... The carrier doesn't own it, you do.

Agreed

 

So what if you sell your phone and someone else unlocks it?

 

It's 3 years standard up here

 

"Land of the free" my ass...

 

We're already getting raped by cell phone carriers, what's one more thing lol. Although, I agree this is stupid.

FWIW, they're really not going refuse to unlock it for you. My neighbor just had AT&T unlock one of their phones. Especially if you're doing it to switch to another carrier earlier since they'd still be getting a contract termination fee out of you. I'm strongly considering just getting a Virgin Mobile 4G phone for 35 bucks a month once my Verizon Wireless contract is up. Getting old paying 110 a month for my one phone for 2-3gb of data I use, only a handful of phone calls, and less than 1500 texts.

 

If your phone isn't subsidized, why is there a contract?

 

Some carriers like T-Mobile are getting away from subsidized phones altogether. They will only sell them at full price. The trade-off is they're going to offer lower prices. The other carriers are waiting to see how it goes.

 

Not sure what you mean , my phone is subsidized

I paid $249 for an Iphone 5

 

You buy the phone, and you pay for the service plan monthly, why can't I take whats mine and fuck with it however I want to?

That's like saying, here buy this computer with Internet Explorer, you can do anything you want with it, except you can't delete IE and put a different web browser on there.

 

If you are in an open contract, as I am, I can buy a new phone for the msrp with out getting a new contract.


Not sure how this works form someone being a new customer to the carrier though. Maybe you pay the msrp and you have an open contract from the start.

But the law does not apply to these phones.

 

don't give them ideas

 

Apple already got the hint and made it illegal to make a Hackintosh.

 

Yea I believe you have the option to pay MSRP right off the bat and never be in a contract.

 

I guess I was confused by your comment. You made the rebuttal point that we get them at a discount price therefore it's okay for them to limit your ability to unlock it. But after the contract period, the cost of the phone has been redeemed and we're not under contract. After that contract period there is no termination fee (which is based on the value of the phone). The phone is ours but we can't modify it to use it on another carrier.

 

As a new customer, on AT&T, you have to buy a phone, even if you plan on bringing your own. T-Mobile is moving away from subsidized phones so I'm not sure how it will work on theirs.