More consequences of corporate money on the legal system.

 

http://abcnews.go.co...ory?id=18319518

 

You likely have a cellphone that you bought from a carrier, like AT&T, Verizon or Sprint, and that phone only works on that carrier's cellular and data network -- unless you "unlock" it.

 

That is a software process that allows the phone to work on other carriers if you put in a new SIM card or want to take the phone to another carrier for service.

 

If that sounds complicated to you and like something you wouldn't bother with, then today's news won't matter to you. But if that's something you've done before or have thought about doing, then you should know that starting today it is illegal to

unlock a subsidized phone or tablet that's bought through a U.S. carrier.

 

Why now? Starting today, the U.S. Copyright Office and Library of Congress are no longer allowing phone unlocking as an exemption under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

 

You can read the full docket here but, in short, it is illegal to unlock a phone from a carrier unless you have that carrier's

permission to do so. If you're wondering what this has to do with copyright, it turns out not much.

 

"It wasn't a good ruling," Rebecca Jeschke, a digital rights analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), told ABC News. "You should be able to unlock your phone. This law was meant to combat copyright infringement, not to prevent people to do what they want to do with the device they bought."

 

Of course, the carriers prefer the new rule because it ties your phone to their network. U.S. cellular carriers sell phones at a subsidized or discounted rate with a contract. You pay the network for service on a monthly basis and they give you the phone for a cheaper price than it actually is worth.

 

You can support the people fighting back!

More consequences of corporate money on the legal system.

 

http://abcnews.go.co...ory?id=18319518

 

 

 

You can support the people fighting back!

 

When I read this today I was so upset. A cell phone that you own, you paid for with your own money, can't be unlocked? Or is the cell phone industry becoming like the software industry, where you only have a license to use the cell phone and don't really own it at all. How this law got snuck in, I have no idea. I bet there would have been a bigger outpouring of sentiment against it had it been better publicized that it was before congress.

 

John

This will eventually change. I have unlocked mine and voided every single warranty on every single phone I have ever owned that I can remember.

 

It's mine, anyone who thinks different including verizon can pound sand and sue me. I would then of course give them the phone back....through their window.

 

These laws are becoming more and more insane. It's amazing the effort and concern congress can put into some issues more than other more pressing, important ones.

You likely have a cellphone that you bought from a carrier, like AT&T, Verizon or Sprint,

 

If I got the phone for free or at reduced cost from the carrier for subscribing to their service, then I understand the law. If I paid the carrier full ticket for the same phone, then there's something wrong.

 

The simple solution is, never buy a phone through a carrier. Never ever ever. And not even then. But if they're giving you the phone for free, then abide by their rules. Get another free phone from the other carrier you want to use. Or pony up the cost and buy your own phone and do with it what you wish.

 

Hook

If I got the phone for free or at reduced cost from the carrier for subscribing to their service, then I understand the law. If I paid the carrier full ticket for the same phone, then there's something wrong.

 

The simple solution is, never buy a phone through a carrier. Never ever ever. And not even then. But if they're giving you the phone for free, then abide by their rules. Get another free phone from the other carrier you want to use. Or pony up the cost and buy your own phone and do with it what you wish.

 

Hook

 

The logic is iffy. If you are switching to another network on a subsidized phone, you have broken the contract and will have to pay the appropriate fines, whereupon the phone is yours and there should be no problem. If you are out of contract, then the phone is again yours and there should be no problem.

 

But there is. In theory, this law applies whether you are under contract or not. Essentially, the carrier has its hands on the phone, to lock you and any future owner into their service forever on that device.

 

Under this change, you are not free to do what you want, even with the devices you own.

 

Whether its likely that the companies will chase individuals is nearly irrelevant beside the fact that they now have the ability to do so at their own sole discretion.

 

And in 2015, the DMCA exemption that allows people to "root" their devices will also come up for review.

But there is. In theory, this law applies whether you are under contract or not. Essentially, the carrier has its hands on the phone, to lock you and any future owner into their service forever on that device.

 

If enough people go the route of avoiding purchase through the carrier that it has a noticeable affect on their sales, the carriers themselves will be asking to get the law changed. Stupid laws have a tendency not to last forever, although some still hang on tenaciously. I don't think this will be one of those.

 

Hook

It just goes to show who owns the goverment and it isn't the people!!!

It just goes to show who owns the goverment and it isn't the people!!!

 

Sadly, this has been the case in one form or another sense the beginning of large complex societies.

 

 

I understand how this might upset people... but for myself.. eh. I've never paid for a phone in my life. Every couple years, my provider gives me an impressive list of free upgrades. My service is cheap, works, and gives me a free phone. I never fell into the phone marketing hole of death. If it has numbers on it, and it calls someone... I'm good.

 

Old school? Yes... but dang people... it's a phone. And by the way... Get Off My Lawn!

Incredible how much they try to control every aspect of your life in the "land of the free".

Just like a million other laws, who's going to enforce it?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Just like a million other laws, who's going to enforce it?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

True, especially in instances like this, but I find that I am much less willing to ignore laws (even really obnoxious ones) than I once was......

 

I am much more likely to try and get it changed now, than just ignore it. :unsure:

 

In this case, the exemptions you take for granted are only there because they were fought for by people who cared; and it seems they will only remain in force if vigilance is maintained. (And sometimes even that isn't enough when the politicians are truly brought and paid for)

Hmm, we'll, if I have got the wrong end of the thread here guys, then I apologise BUT from how I see things I agree... To a point. OK, if someone pays the full price for a mobile phone then it is your's you've paid for it, outright, end of story. So, sure, you should be able to do whatever you like with it, within reason. However, where I do agree wholeheartedly, is if the carrier, such as AT&T, sell you a contract and part of that contract is a phone which is provided at a hugely reduced price, then sure, you should not be free to then effectively change the contract for your own convenience. If I am in business and wish to retain a customer by supplying a product at a massively reduced price on the assumption/understanding that I will receive a specific amount of profit by installing certain restrictions on the use of the phone, then surely that is perfectly reasonable. Carriers don't make money by supplying phones, they make money by supplying a service. That service is the fulfilment of communications.

 

When they offer a service to the customer along with a phone, the profits have been worked out and balanced between what they gain in a yearly contract (or whatever) and what they lose in supplying a $650 phone at a highly reduced price. If the phone is then unlocked and it is used without any restrictions to the original carrier's intent, then where does that leave them?

Coming soon, a law to restrict how much water you consume and air you breath.

 

Sent from my Jailbroken and unlocked iPhone

Coming soon, a law to restrict how much water you consume and air you breath.

 

Well, the water part is true just about every summer now ah days.

Coming soon, a law to restrict how much water you consume and air you breath.

 

Sent from my Jailbroken and unlocked iPhone

 

Haha! Too true, it's getting ridiculous. Gotta have control on every aspect of every citizen. (Sent from my unlocked iPhone too)