
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.
Are you excited about the passing of the bill?
Source: WhiteHouse
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