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154 Comments
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -9/+98Its my understanding that a 2-year Cingular subscription comes with the iPhone... so unless you would like to pay for both a Cingular and T-mobile contract, this doesn't really help anything.
- itseffinkasey, on 10/12/2007, -3/+88Yeah no kidding, Congress did something useful for once and we don't hear about it, whats up with that?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+57This is essentially meaningless. Making it "legal to unlock" doesn't mean ***** when you can't get it done. When there's an early-termination fee, IT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL TO LOCK THE PHONE in the first place.
Phone subsidies are NO EXCUSE for locking phones, because the service providers will hit you with an early termination fee if you quit before those subsidies are paid off.
Another example of American consumers getting dicked over, and their Congress being eager to help with the dicking. - Darksaber11, on 10/12/2007, -4/+50Need I say anything but "w00t!"? Actually, yes I do. This is a big step towards the kind of freedom people should have with products they paid for; Go Go LoC!
- Daedalus17, on 10/12/2007, -10/+54You can stop feeling rebellious now. It was NEVER illegal in the first place.
- neopran, on 10/12/2007, -25/+61wow
I didn't know that such a simple thing would be illegal in the US...I guess this just shows how much power corporations actually have over their government....
thank God I don't live there - LordSkywalker, on 10/12/2007, -10/+44Like I gave a *****. I did it anyway.
- morphie, on 10/12/2007, -8/+31Unless you got the simlock with a discount of 80% of the original price... Here in the netherlands we get phones with simlock for 60 euro's... Without simlock 600 euro's. Please take away my freedom to switch from provider for a year if it saves me 540 euro's!
- CrankyMcGuy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20@SIRBERUS What a lot of people seem to be missing is that the voice mail feature on the iPhone is a proprietary system that Apple convinced Cingular to help create. I'm not saying you can't use the phone with another provider if it's unlocked, but one of the "oooh wow!" features of the iPhone was the nifty random access voice mail. That won't be available on any provider except Cingular for some time.
- Daedalus17, on 10/12/2007, -4/+23Calm down! No ban was lifted. Unlocking your phone was never illegal. The article title is totally inaccurate.
- picaman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17I've been trying to read the Internet, but I haven't had the time to finish it yet.
Don't tell me how it ends, please. - popothebright, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17Huh? I'm lost. I thought it had been perfectly "legal" to unlock your cell phone for years. There are hundreds of commercial unlock sites (like GSM Liberty) which let you do this. Right now I'm using a Cingular Treo on T-Mobile and its worked fine for years now with no problems.
This is taken from gsmliberty.com:
Unlocking your Cell phone is legal in most, almost all countries around the world . This includes the Canada, US and UK.
Once you purchase a cell phone it is your legal property and you can do whatever it is you please with your phone. No one can tell you what to do or not with it.
Some people view unlocking a cell phone as a "Grey market" issue, not illegal however not "fully" legal either. Others have also argued that unlocking a cell phone could tamper with a phone's firmware, which is in it self copywrited material and therefore would render unlocking illegal.
Although the above points to seem to have merit, they are in fact not true. - burningmonk, on 10/12/2007, -6/+22Some providers such as T-mobile will even unlock it for you for free if you just call them and ask. (If it says that in TFA then I apologize, I didn't take the time to read it.)
- robbh66, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17I'm not an expert, but I don't think it's ever been really illegal in the sense that I've never heard about the companies going after anyone. This isn't really a big deal- it's just saying the companies cant come after you for something they didn't do before.
- nogami, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12I've never heard of a company going after a customer who unlocks their phone (or unlockers themselves), because they're usually locked-into a contract anyway.
That said, you DO need to be a little careful as 3rd party unlockers can damage your phone if you're not careful, and will likely void a warranty. - DoorFrame, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11The Library of Congress has the power to make exemptions to the DMCA and always have.
- RandomShoes, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14I have never been so excited, now i can drop $499 on an iPhone and get a free 2 year contract with cingular. Then I can pay at least $50 a month for 3 months just so i can "ask" cingular to unlock my shiny (which like all iproducts it will no longer be shiny by then) iphone. Then i can pay cingular at least $150 to terminate my contract. and after all that i might be able to use my iphone with any carrier guilt free. This would be the perfect deal if every time
i shelled out some money to cingular they kicked me square in the nuts. - wolrah, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10When was it illegal? Hell, T-Mobile GAVE me the unlock code when I asked (roughly a year and a half ago) and I understand Cingular will do the same. Generally, as long as you're past 90 days in to a contract, they'll unlock it upon request. If they ask why, tell them you'll be traveling internationally and would like to use prepaid SIMs while in $country.
Sorry for the poor saps on CDMA networks though, you guys are stuck to what your provider wants you to have, no more. - flap, on 10/12/2007, -7/+17it was illegal? "Lolz".
- SteveMax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Sorry, but was it ever illegal? Unlocking GSM phones has always been the biggest advantagethe technology offers (no need to pay outrageous roaming fees when you travel). Was that just a "legal gray area" used by the companies to keep consumers scared, or was it actually illegal?
- Braxo, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13What about the visual voice-mail though? That won't work on T-Mobile's network.
- jbouklas, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9We can't all be lucky enough to live in Canada, relying on the US for trade and tourism to prop up its economy and the US for defense to protect it in the world.
- zlintux, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Indeed, unless the library of congress suddenly took on legislative or executive duties, they have dick-all power. Not to mention T-Mobile has been unlocking the phones of its customers for years.
However, I could see the DMCA being violated for non-authorised unlocking..
Oh, and the iPhone may or may not be unlockable. The phone is solely sold as a Cingular phone at the moment, and its VM system is proprietary to Cingular's network. Due to how the phone operates, it's likely that no VM indicator would be present on another network, and possible that the data settings be locked in to Cingulars (things like proxy/gateway). Not to mention, unlike other GSM phones, which are sold by numerous operators and operator-unbranded, the iPhone will not be. As such, you cannot assume that any unlocking interface as present on other phones would be here.
Everything is speculation at the moment... but I can't say I'm too excited about the whole thing. Much of its features are already out in other phones and many features that are present on other phones aren't on it. The second version will undoubtedly be great, but I personally wouldn't be buying any Apple stock in the days leading up to the relase.. - Hellmark, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Uhm, not new news. There was numerous postings on the front page here when this, and several other exemptions, were made to the DMCA.
- Hardcase, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6You're mostly right. It's never been illegal. The Librarian of Congress just clarified the DMCA to make it clear that the law does not apply to cell phones.
- jonnyq, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6It's always been "legal" to unlock a cellphone.
However, it's now "illegal" for a company to try to keep you from doing so.
That's the difference.
but, yeah, what zlintux said... just because a phone can be unlocked doesn't mean it will be useful. the software in an iPhone will probably not work with TMobile's network, and therefore will be useless with them (or anyone other than Cingular) - cpuenvy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"Why haven't there been more stories about this? "
Well, because I guess that nobody gives a flying ***** what the Library of Congress says about our phones... - jeezus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Jeez... do you guys actually read the Internet? PC Mag did a cover story on it, and here's three quick links on the news, how to do it, etc.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2064707,00.asp (first news)
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2098789,00.asp (how to do it)
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2069318,00.asp (what the carriers think of it) - Barryke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4what morpie said!
Also; in the Netherlands telecommunication providers are obliged to REMOVE a simlock when asked. :)
Costs between 40 and 200 euro's, but is FREE when the phone is older than 1 year.
A simlock free phone always comes in handy, especially if you go abroad. Just buy a pre-paid on location, and you pay lower bills.
Normaly the receipant pays for the connection-traject outside of his own country. This way you don't have to: accepting calls is free.
The caller pays. - uranium, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5"Looks like using the iPhone with T-Mobile may not be a problem after all."
iPhone requires support from the service providers for stuff like visual voice mail. So on T-Mobile you will probably be limited to iPod, iPhoto, and making calls once you manage to unlock it. But that's probably all most people want... - kalidav, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5It's your phone, you can do whatever the ***** you want with it.
- aakins, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@WillyNilly
I work for a small GSM provider. We only sell unlocked phones, and use the contract to keep the customers, so we can regain our losses on the phones. Unforunately, not too many people seem to notice or care. Verizon is the worst because they seem to not only lock to certain carriers, but also lock their Bluetooth from being able to receive from computers. Many have "walled gardens" for their WAP, just so people can't get ringtones/videos/wallpapers from other sources. What a load of crap to charge 3.99 for a 30sec clip of a song that I can preview for free just about anywhere on the internet, but the music companies are the cause of that. - briguymaine, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@ WillyNilly
An unlocked phone only means that you can switch carriers if you want to. I started my 2 yr commitment with Cingular, the phone they gave me sucked so I bought an unlocked phone when I visited Turkey and moved my SIM to it. It worked with all the "features" (nothing fancy) and there were no hassles. I even went in one day to get an upgraded plan for it and talked to one of the sales people, honestly told him that it was an unlocked phone and he said it didn't matter.
They just want a service commitment from you, the term "locked phone" sounds like you would be breaking the law, I imagine they like people to think that. - Hallik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"It has been LEGAL since November 2006..." and that was when it first made it on digg. Buried for duplicate topic, funny how it comes back up 4 months after.. Like honestly, if something as "grand" as this happened, the story would be up here on day 1..
- stizz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5As far as I've heard, in order to use the visual voice mail features of the iPhone, you will absolutely have to be on the Cingular network. If you don't care about that feature, and www.Gsmliberty.net or www.iUnlock.com somehow manage to offer support for unlocking the iPhone, then you should be able to simply slip your SIM card into it and use whatever network you want.
- Darkside2984, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3About the iPhone...if it is immensely successful, Apple can break their contract with Cingular by paying a stiff fine and go to the other companies. It happens all the time, in fact it's the whole idea behind a contract. You write into them what happens if one party doesn't perform or breaks the contract. Expect this to happen if the iPhone is crazy successful, but since it's a smartphone by nature don't expect that it will end up being crazy successful.
- jacobsor, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Whether it's legal or not is irrelevant for the iPhone. The iPhone will most likely be hard-coded to Cingular and physically impossible to unlock.
- pfunked, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Sure it was never illegal? If the phone companies construed the phone lock as a Copyright Protection mechanism, it might have been illegal under the DMCA.
- DreKor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Depending on the phone, they can't unlock it. Trying to get a Verizon handset to play nice on a generic network is a pain in the ass. Even if you can get it to work, there will usually be features that are never quite the way you want them. Verizon uses all kinds of proprietary apps in their phones, especially where data is concerned.
- atdigg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4So you can unlock iPhone big deal after you already signed a 2 year contract with Cingular what benefit do you get if you unlock it? (I mean you do have a 2 year contract, right?)
- TyrannousDotNet, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4do you realize how much an unlocked iphone will cost on ebay....guh
- carpespasm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3i wouldn't say scum, there's just no easy way to work for a cell company, though i'll admit that most decent people have qualms about working for them, even if they do.
- bobpaul, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"Why haven't there been more stories about this? " Because there have... pay attention
- joelevi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Daedalus,
The DMCA (which we all know and love) effectively prevents someone from even attempting to circumvent a copy protection scheme. Cell phone carriers applied this to their phones, stating that by locking the devices they were "copy protecting" them and anyone who unlocked the phone (or offered a program/method to unlock a phone) was in violation of the DMCA.
Crazy as it sounds, that's the way the courts have interpreted the law. Hence why a 'rule clarification' was ammended to the DMCA to allow phone unlocking.
- www.JoeLevi.com - djphatjive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I bought a new phone from Cingular, Called them up and had them unlock it so i can use it on my old ATT plan, They said it would take 3 days and it did. I now have a brand new unlocked phone direct from Cingular. Just call them and ask them to unlock it.
- DoorFrame, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It was a violation of the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA, making it illegal if not done with permission.
- Tawni, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You can buy an unlocked phone at most malls, compusa and even online. There is a kiosk in one of the malls where I live that is going to sell the Iphone unlocked just as they sold the Dolce and Gabana gold razor phone unlocked. I am still shocked that they sold 20 of the gold Doce and Gabana Phones for $800.00 each.I know I would never spend that much but at least the Iphone will only be half as much.
- Krakn3Dfx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Oops, this isn't the foot nipple thread!
- snowwrestler, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5[killed my post - redundant]
- DoorFrame, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7Yes it was. The DMCA was fairly clear about that.
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