• President Obama Signs Bill Making "Unlocking" Cellphones Legal

    by
    Akshay Masand
    Published on 2014-08-02 11:34 PM
    19 Comments Comments


    President Obama recently signed the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, a bill which makes unlocking mobile phones legal. The new act reverses the previous decision that was made by the Library of Congress, which upheld a provision of the bill that made unlocking mobile phones illegal.

    When the Library of Congress made its previous decision, consumers naturally opposed, expressing their disagreement and displeasure by gathering more than 110,000 signatures on a petition to make unlocking legal. This actually caused the whole decision to be reviewed once again. An interesting fact that some of you might not know: the passing of the act marks the first time that a petition has ended up leading to a change in legislation but it isn't a surprise considering so many people voiced their opinion regarding the matter.

    The Obama administration wrote the following in a recent release expressing their disbelief in the passing of the original:

    This commonsense legislation ensured that consumers could transfer their phones between carriers, and that second-hand phones could be put to good use by new owners connecting to a network of their choice.
    Despite the act being approved, consumers who are under a service contract with their wireless providers will still need to satisfy the terms of the contract before being allowed to unlock their device.This is because the new law doesn't tell wireless carriers to provide an unlock code without a valid reason, even though cellphone unlocking is legal.

    Are you excited about the passing of the bill?

    Source: WhiteHouse
    This article was originally published in forum thread: President Obama Signs Bill Making "Unlocking" Cellphones Legal started by Akshay Masand View original post
    1. Categories:
    2. iPhone,
    3. iOS,
    4. Apple
    Comments 19 Comments
    1. Hondamaker's Avatar
      Hondamaker - 2014-08-02, 11:59 PM
      Because that's the most important thing on his agenda.
    1. Evaded's Avatar
      Evaded - 2014-08-03, 01:38 AM
      Glad that was so high on his list. Who cares about immigration or something else important.....


      Sent from my iPad using ModMyi
    1. Cmds187's Avatar
      Cmds187 - 2014-08-03, 01:50 AM
      so what if you brought a locked AT&T iPhone from ebay do this mean you can get it unlocked from which ever carrier or it can only be used with AT&T carriers
    1. rimshak's Avatar
      rimshak - 2014-08-03, 01:59 AM
      We get a win from a simple petition and all you folks can do is take time to complain about Obama?

      This is fantastic news, whether you like our President or not. Thanks for posting the article, Akshay.
    1. exNavy's Avatar
      exNavy - 2014-08-03, 03:48 AM
      Wow this may be the only worthwhile thing he's done since he's been in office.
    1. Evaded's Avatar
      Evaded - 2014-08-03, 04:15 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by exNavy View Post
      Wow this may be the only worthwhile thing he's done since he's been in office.
      +1000000000000000


      Sent from my iPad using ModMyi
    1. rimshak's Avatar
      rimshak - 2014-08-03, 04:26 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by Cmds187 View Post
      so what if you brought a locked AT&T iPhone from ebay do this mean you can get it unlocked from which ever carrier or it can only be used with AT&T carriers
      Thanks to this, you should be able to take it to another GSM carrier as long as you've fulfilled your contractual agreements with AT&T. They're bound by law (now) to unlock it, if so.

      At least that's my understanding of it.
    1. tallnatt's Avatar
      tallnatt - 2014-08-03, 04:35 AM
      hmmm not sure obama has any bills on his desk from Congress regarding immigration or any of the other issues you all mentioned. see legislation is presented to congress it gets passed by the house and the senate (which has been the most useless congress in US history) then the president signs it into law.
    1. hitman10's Avatar
      hitman10 - 2014-08-03, 04:53 AM
      Lol, no matter what people do, the peanut gallery must complain.
    1. Carvensno's Avatar
      Carvensno - 2014-08-03, 05:01 AM
      Well ATT was already unlocking cell phones when your contract is up. Just go online and submit your phone info to request it to be unlocked. As long as your contract is fullfilled or not in contract they will unlock then.
    1. lovecokepepsi's Avatar
      lovecokepepsi - 2014-08-03, 06:56 AM
      Good!!!!!
    1. offroad1994's Avatar
      offroad1994 - 2014-08-03, 11:57 AM
      At&t will only unlock if you are the original owner and can prove it. That's the catch.
    1. thazsar's Avatar
      thazsar - 2014-08-03, 04:27 PM
      I thought this bill allowed unlocking a device regardless of contract. Yes, the person would have to pay termination fees but they could then switch carriers using the same device.

      As I understood it, it was supposed to be for people that created a contract and then discovered that carrier's service was poor in that area vs. a competitors. Is this inaccurate?
    1. Carvensno's Avatar
      Carvensno - 2014-08-03, 04:30 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by offroad1994 View Post
      At&t will only unlock if you are the original owner and can prove it. That's the catch.
      That's false! 1. A ex girlfriend of mine had my iPhone 4 that I sold her. When she got her own plan, she got here unlocked no questions asked. Because it wasn't in contract.

      2. How are you suppose to prove your the original owner when the only way to get your phone unlocked through AT&T is via their website?

      Nothing on their website that says you have to show proof. Just says as long as the device has not been reported stolen.


      Sent from my iPhone using ModMyi
    1. offroad1994's Avatar
      offroad1994 - 2014-08-03, 04:35 PM
      Care to share that website link?
    1. Carvensno's Avatar
      Carvensno - 2014-08-03, 04:49 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by offroad1994 View Post
      Care to share that website link?
      Here ya go: https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/client/en_US/?
    1. offroad1994's Avatar
      offroad1994 - 2014-08-03, 08:34 PM
      so I tried the web site link given

      first line of the form is enter your current-former-gophone telephone number. Well guess what, the phone is on another non AT&T system. So you have to be a current or former AT&T customer to get the iphone unlocked. Like I said in my previous email.

      But will give it a shot regardless and see if my current H2O phone number (which uses AT&T cell towers) will allow the iphone to be completely unlocked. or at least to verify it is completely unlocked. Have had no problems with teh iphone so far on H2O but would like verification that this iphone 3GS is completely unlocked
    1. Carvensno's Avatar
      Carvensno - 2014-08-03, 08:57 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by offroad1994 View Post
      so I tried the web site link given

      first line of the form is enter your current-former-gophone telephone number. Well guess what, the phone is on another non AT&T system. So you have to be a current or former AT&T customer to get the iphone unlocked. Like I said in my previous email.

      But will give it a shot regardless and see if my current H2O phone number (which uses AT&T cell towers) will allow the iphone to be completely unlocked. or at least to verify it is completely unlocked. Have had no problems with teh iphone so far on H2O but would like verification that this iphone 3GS is completely unlocked
      Just google IMEI checker and you'll have a few websites to check and see if your phone is unlocked or not.

      Idk if att would unlock a phone from a different company even tho they run on their towers? Good luck


      Sent from my iPhone using ModMyi
    1. offroad1994's Avatar
      offroad1994 - 2014-08-03, 09:15 PM
      Att system rejected my unlock request. As expected. But I did get the old att number so will see if the system works later.

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