Illegal to unlock our phones

[jgmecarter]

http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/01/24/unlocked-cell-phones-will-be-illegal-in-us/

This is crap. If we pay for are phone then we should have the say if we are going to unlock it or not.

 

[Miller6386]

That will just be another one of those laws that will be there and the enforcement will be based on a convenience factor.....

 

[jgmecarter]

I know but it is still crazy

 

[Miller6386]

This is mainly a ploy by the big companies out there who feel they are losing money by not selling additional phones to those who travel or change carriers.......

 

[raw2000j]

if theres a way to do it I will I dont give a dam what they say

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Xparent Red Tapatalk 2

 

[94lt1]

Its illegal to "carrier unlock" not to root. And it was said that it only pertains to phones made after yesterday...this is my understanding..

But here's my question... does that mean GSM devices will now be locked down like vzw devices?? I'm so far out of the loop, its not even funny.

Edit : just read that "unlocked " devices will still be available..

 

[bsweetness]

Its illegal to "carrier unlock" not to root. And it was said that it only pertains to phones made after yesterday...this is my understanding..

But here's my question... does that mean GSM devices will noe be locked down like vzw devices?? I'm so far out of the loop, its not even funny.

I doubt it. The law doesn't say anything about not allowing factory unlocked devices. In fact, I'm pretty sure there's no way they could legally prevent that.

And so far, Verizon LTE devices aren't locked down. All of them have been released SIM unlocked right out of the box. And for the LTE phones that have enabled support for GSM networks, they're GSM unlocked as well (for international GSM networks, although some have been for domestic GSM networks too). This is potentially due to the fact that in order to use some of the LTE spectrum Verizon purchased the rights to, they had to keep the devices using it unlocked. They've tried to get around this a bit with the S3 and Note 2 by not including access to the APN settings (which makes using data on another network impossible without root), but the phones are still unlocked.

So yeah, while this whole thing about carrier unlocking is a bit ridiculous, it's currently not an issue with Verizon LTE devices. They're all unlocked out of the box for LTE (although most carriers use different, incompatible LTE bands) and for GSM (if they have GSM hardware that's enabled).

 

[jgmecarter]

I thought that you could still buy unlocked phones. You just can not unlock them yourself.

 

[bsweetness]

I thought that you could still buy unlocked phones. You just can not unlock them yourself.

Yep.

You can also unlock them using carrier approved methods.

 

[Dhevix]

Seems like a strange idea, I hope the UK doesn't follow suit. Feeling more and more like the companies would prefer us to be essentially renting the devices off them.

 

[Larry_ThaGr81]

You can unlock the bootloader for the purpose of installing a custom rom. It is only illegal to unlock it from the carrier that you bought it on.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Knightrider03m]

I bought the phone, the phone is mine to do as I wish.

 

[MTBryan]

I am confused. I thought it was only illegal to unlock the phone when you buy it on the cheap, for the price of extending your contract? They don't want people buying a $600 phone for $200 bucks (for example), unlocking it, then possibly selling it right away. If the carrier sells you the phone for a reduced price, they just want to be sure it is used on their particular network for the contract period.
If you buy the phone at full price or from someone else, and it isn't on contract, you can do whatever you want.
I'm not sure why this pisses people off.
If you want to unlock it, buy it outright.
If you can't afford to buy it outright, you'll have to abide by their rules.
If you don't like their rules, break them and risk consequences, if there are really any.
I love a free country.

 

[bsweetness]

I am confused. I thought it was only illegal to unlock the phone when you buy it on the cheap, for the price of extending your contract? They don't want people buying a $600 phone for $200 bucks (for example), unlocking it, then possibly selling it right away. If the carrier sells you the phone for a reduced price, they just want to be sure it is used on their particular network for the contract period.
If you buy the phone at full price or from someone else, and it isn't on contract, you can do whatever you want.
I'm not sure why this pisses people off.
If you want to unlock it, buy it outright.
If you can't afford to buy it outright, you'll have to abide by their rules.
If you don't like their rules, break them and risk consequences, if there are really any.
I love a free country.

Not quite. Generally speaking, it is now considered illegal in the U.S. for a person to unlock the SIM slot on a device on their own, regardless of where the device came from. This includes unlocking it on your own even if you've bought it at full price. What isn't illegal is if the carrier will provide you with the means to unlock the phone, which many carriers will do if you meet certain criteria (which often includes paying for the phone at an off-contract price).

Basically, the current interpretation of the law is that unlocking a carrier-locked SIM slot on a device is completely in the carrier's hands. If the carrier wants to provide a way to unlock one of their locked devices, that's 100% legal. Go through the steps they require, and you're good to go. If the carrier - or manufacturer - wants to provide you with a device that's SIM unlocked right out of the box, that's also 100% legal (all of Verizon's LTE devices are SIM unlocked right out of the box). But unlocking a device that is SIM locked on your own without the involvement of the carrier to which the device is locked, regardless of how you purchased the device, is now considered to be illegal.

So, to make a long story short, if you want to legally unlock a SIM locked device, you have to do it through the carrier that the device is locked to, regardless of how you obtained the device.

 

[MTBryan]

bsweetness: Thanks for the clarification.
Cheers...