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Unauthorized unlocking of smartphones becomes illegal Saturday | 128 comments | Create New Account
Comments belong to whoever posts them. Please notify us of inappropriate comments.
Unauthorized unlocking of smartphones becomes illegal Saturday
Authored by: jbb on Friday, January 25 2013 @ 06:04 PM EST
I can understand the reason for locking a subsidized phone, as the carriers are entitled to recovery the subsidy.
So could you likewise understand if a car company or bank had a digital lock on your car or house? What about a digital lock on anything you buy with a credit card? What about a digital lock on a pacemaker until the operation was paid in full?

There is absolutely no need to make the unlocking your own phone illegal even before it is fully paid for. You still owe them the money so why shouldn't you be able to use the phone most efficiently? Of course this evil is greatly compounded by the fact that it is still illegal to unlock the phone even after you've paid for it in full. If the company goes out of business or has a massive data failure then you are completely out of luck.

It is crazy that the government would get involved in these civil contracts and make unlocking your own phone illegal. The one silver lining is that this makes it perfectly clear who the government is working for; it's certainly not the people of the United States. If the government worked for the people (society as a whole) and not the corporations then they would make DRM illegal. DRM is a scourge on society; it makes a mockery of both fair use and the public domain. DRM is encryption where the end user/owner does not have control over what they supposedly own.

Sure, you own it, but if you wanna to use it, that's gonna cost you extra.

By doing the bidding of their corporate overlords our government is sacrificing our culture for the sake of short-term profits. On this one issue alone we are already hitting on three of Gandhi's root causes of violence:

  • Wealth without work
  • Commerce without morality
  • Politics without principles

---
Our job is to remind ourselves that there are more contexts
than the one we’re in now — the one that we think is reality.
-- Alan Kay

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Do you know when that start?
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, January 25 2013 @ 06:05 PM EST

The part about carriers being required to unlock phones on request?

RAS

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Unauthorized unlocking of smartphones - Google Nexus 4 you can buy unlocked.
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, January 25 2013 @ 06:08 PM EST
Unauthorized unlocking of smartphones - Google Nexus 4 you can buy unlocked...

But, you have to wait for them as the backorder is huge.
Everyone wants one.

So, Why don't the carriers just supply that option too?
They might sell more plans, but of course, they like Microsoft LOVE to LOCK
FOLKS IN...

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Just to be clear...
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, January 25 2013 @ 06:25 PM EST
This is talking about SIM locking (the practice of tying the device to a
particular SIM and network provider), not about "jailbreaking"
(cracking the DRM software so you can load unsigned apps onto the phone).

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Unauthorized unlocking of smartphones becomes illegal Saturday
Authored by: marcosdumay on Friday, January 25 2013 @ 08:50 PM EST
The telco companies recover their subsidy by the contract they make you sign
when they give you the phone. You can't stop paying before the contract ends
(otherwise you pay a penalty), and after the contract ends, there is no more
contract to be concerned about.

Now, tell me again why they need to lock the phones? (In the US. Here they can't
- but they still do.)

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

huh a subsidized phone
Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, January 26 2013 @ 04:05 PM EST
explain that, is that aleased phone i am buying form you at
a monthly rate LIKE say a car , a tv , a house mortgage etc.

YA know eh i can even on a lease
smash the car ( i just have to pay full price on it )
i can do same with a tv and even smash it with a sledge
hammer
unlocking it for good ROFL

and in my house i pay a mortgage on THE LOCKS are mine ot
put on or take off as i see fit....even though i have yet to
have paid full price on said house....however having no
locks might hinder you getting any house insurance on items
like your iphone that are in it that effectively what apple
is saying is that you cant buy an iphone ....you are renting
one and when paid for you can never do as you want with it
because they own it.

seriously this is why i am glad i dont live in the usa and
im glad i dont own an iphone or whatever.
YOUR not home of the free your home of the controlled

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

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