Unlocking phones is going to be illegal starting tomorrow.

[mrwiggles]

I just wanted to make as many people aware that unlocking your phone is going to be illegal starting tomorrow. If you want to unlock your phone and not draw butthurt or ire from your carrier, do it today, your phone will be 'grandfathered' in, so to speak.

I find this new development completely reprehensible. But that's a story for another thread I suppose

Just wanted to make people aware if you have not heard.

[Giccin]

Source?

[7thgear]

i love it when people think 'Meruca is the center of the universe.

The rest of the world laughs at you.

[Burrcold]

Lol your laws are f*cked up.

[HunterGreene]

Originally Posted by mrwiggles

I just wanted to make as many people aware that unlocking your phone is going to be illegal starting tomorrow. If you want to unlock your phone and not draw butthurt or ire from your carrier, do it today, your phone will be 'grandfathered' in, so to speak.

I find this new development completely reprehensible. But that's a story for another thread I suppose

Just wanted to make people aware if you have not heard.

Still waiting for your source.

[Giccin]

Originally Posted by Burrcold

Lol your laws are f*cked up.

I don't even think this accurate information at all.

Not until I see a source.

[7thgear]

Originally Posted by Burrcold

Lol your laws are f*cked up.

Ours are not far behind, unfortunately.

While the smaller guys are slowly chipping at the Big 3 through legal action it will be awhile before things get truly better.

[Gixxersixxerman]

I could be wrong, but I thought the Supreme Court just a year or so ago passed the law saying once you buy the phone it's your property to do what you want..

I'll jump on android forums to see what's up.. My RAZR HD, droid X, X2, are all already rooted, and my iPad 3 is jail broke..

[dem00n]

Who cares?

[SubieNate]

Yeah, it was ruled that jailbreaking is perfectly legit less than a year ago.

[HunterGreene]

Originally Posted by Giccin

I don't even think this accurate information at all.

Not until I see a source.

Because i decided to use this wonderful thing called Google:

http://gizmodo.com/5978982/unlocking...rting-tomorrow

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-...egal-saturday/

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2414699,00.asp

The law is part of a Library of Congress ruling. However, it does appear that this will be legit.

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by 7thgear

Ours are not far behind, unfortunately.

While the smaller guys are slowly chipping at the Big 3 through legal action it will be awhile before things get truly better.

The CRTC, as shitty as they are, can't make these types of rulings in Canada. There would have to be a legal injunction first to even kick start this here. There hasn't been anything to this point.

Not to say that it can't, or won't happen. But we've seen how long piracy laws in the US have been enforced, while jackshit was ever done here.

[Giccin]

Originally Posted by HunterGreene

Because i decided to use this wonderful thing called Google:

http://gizmodo.com/5978982/unlocking...rting-tomorrow

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-...egal-saturday/

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2414699,00.asp

The law is part of a Library of Congress ruling. However, it does appear that this will be legit.

It'd would just be more convenient and more credible if the OP had posted these himself. Sounded like he just threw something out.

That and I didn't feel like it was my obligation to look up sources. :P

Thanks.

[TheRipler]

http://www.technewsdaily.com/16514-u...s-illegal.html

The clock to unlock a new mobile phone is running out.

In October 2012, the Librarian of Congress, who determines exemptions to a strict anti-hacking law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), decided that unlocking mobile phones would no longer be allowed. But the librarian provided a 90-day window during which people could still buy a phone and unlock it. That window closes on January 26.

Unlocking a phone frees it from restrictions that keep the device from working on more than one carrier's network, allowing it run on other networks that use the same wireless standard. This can be useful to international travellers who need their phones to work on different networks. Other people just like the freedom of being able to switch carriers as they please.

The new rule against unlocking phones won't be a problem for everybody, though. For example, Verizon's iPhone 5 comes out of the box already unlocked, and AT&T will unlock a phone once it is out of contract.

You can also pay full-price for a phone, not the discounted price that comes with a two-year service contract, to receive the device unlocked from the get-go. Apple sells an unlocked iPhone 5 starting at $649, and Google sells its Nexus 4 unlocked for $300. [See also: Can I Get a Smartphone Without a Contract?]

Advocacy group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) questions whether the DMCA has the right to determine who can unlock a phone. In an email to TechNewsDaily, EFF attorney Mitch Stoltz said, "Arguably, locking phone users into one carrier is not at all what the DMCA was meant to do. It's up to the courts to decide."

If you do buy a new phone and want to unlock it before the deadline, you must first ask your carrier if the company will unlock your phone for you. The DMCA only permits you to unlock your phone yourself once you've asked your carrier first.


(Note that unlocking is different from "jailbreaking," which opens the phone up for running additional software and remains legal for smartphones.)

Christopher S. Reed from the U.S. Copyright Office noted in an email to TechNewsDaily that "only a consumer, who is also the owner of the copy of software on the handset under the law, may unlock the handset."

But come Saturday, you'll have to break the law to unlock your phone. If you want to get in under the gun, you can search the Internet for the code to enter to unlock the phone or find a tool that will help you accomplish the task.


The change could crimp the style of carriers like T-Mobile, which have pushed "bring your own device" as an incentive for switching service providers. Such carriers promise savings in exchange for using your existing phone on their network.