March 28, 2024
The White House Declares 'It's Time to Legalize Cell Phone Unlocking'

The White House Declares 'It's Time to Legalize Cell Phone Unlocking'

Posted March 4, 2013 at 6:42pm by iClarified
The White House has released its official response to a petition to make cell phone unlocking legal, declaring: 'It's Time to Legalize Cell Phone Unlocking'.

Here is the response by David Edelman, Senior Advisor for Internet, Innovation, & Privacy, in full:

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Thank you for sharing your views on cell phone unlocking with us through your petition on our We the People platform. Last week the White House brought together experts from across government who work on telecommunications, technology, and copyright policy, and we're pleased to offer our response.


The White House agrees with the 114,000+ of you who believe that consumers should be able to unlock their cell phones without risking criminal or other penalties. In fact, we believe the same principle should also apply to tablets, which are increasingly similar to smart phones. And if you have paid for your mobile device, and aren't bound by a service agreement or other obligation, you should be able to use it on another network. It's common sense, crucial for protecting consumer choice, and important for ensuring we continue to have the vibrant, competitive wireless market that delivers innovative products and solid service to meet consumers' needs.

This is particularly important for secondhand or other mobile devices that you might buy or receive as a gift, and want to activate on the wireless network that meets your needs -- even if it isn't the one on which the device was first activated. All consumers deserve that flexibility.

The White House's position detailed in this response builds on some critical thinking done by the President's chief advisory Agency on these matters: the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). For more context and information on the technical aspects of the issue, you can review the NTIA's letter to the Library of Congress' Register of Copyrights (.pdf), voicing strong support for maintaining the previous exception to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) for cell phone carrier unlocking.

Contrary to the NTIA's recommendation, the Librarian of Congress ruled that phones purchased after January of this year would no longer be exempted from the DMCA. The law gives the Librarian the authority to establish or eliminate exceptions -- and we respect that process. But it is also worth noting the statement the Library of Congress released today on the broader public policy concerns of the issue. Clearly the White House and Library of Congress agree that the DMCA exception process is a rigid and imperfect fit for this telecommunications issue, and we want to ensure this particular challenge for mobile competition is solved.


So where do we go from here?

The Obama Administration would support a range of approaches to addressing this issue, including narrow legislative fixes in the telecommunications space that make it clear: neither criminal law nor technological locks should prevent consumers from switching carriers when they are no longer bound by a service agreement or other obligation.

We also believe the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), with its responsibility for promoting mobile competition and innovation, has an important role to play here. FCC Chairman Genachowski today voiced his concern about mobile phone unlocking (.pdf), and to complement his efforts, NTIA will be formally engaging with the FCC as it addresses this urgent issue.

Finally, we would encourage mobile providers to consider what steps they as businesses can take to ensure that their customers can fully reap the benefits and features they expect when purchasing their devices.

We look forward to continuing to work with Congress, the wireless and mobile phone industries, and most importantly you -- the everyday consumers who stand to benefit from this greater flexibility -- to ensure our laws keep pace with changing technology, protect the economic competitiveness that has led to such innovation in this space, and offer consumers the flexibility and freedoms they deserve.
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This is great new for consumers. We'll keep you up to date with more information as things develop.

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The White House Declares 'It's Time to Legalize Cell Phone Unlocking'
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Comments (20)
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Pwnuido
Pwnuido - April 27, 2013 at 7:56pm
Math smokers
DavidG
DavidG - March 5, 2013 at 6:35pm
Great step in the right direction. Awesome!! Still not entirely free to unlock it as you wish once its paid for. Great news nonetheless.
Trollspray
Trollspray - March 5, 2013 at 12:31am
Unlocks are NOT worth $10. A simple ebay search will guide you to a reputable person who sells their unlocks UNDER $4.00. I get mine's for $1.49
DavidG
DavidG - March 5, 2013 at 6:36pm
Not quite legal yet so don't do it people. Plus it's not just CrappyTT.
Sitsy
Sitsy - April 27, 2013 at 5:07am
Tuco
AEB
AEB - March 4, 2013 at 9:04pm
I believed it's TIME that Apple saves and open the Signing of the MOST STABLE iOS firmwares for iDevices -such as: (3.1.3 for 3G) / (5.1.1 for 3GS and A4 devices + iPhone4S + maybe some A5 devices) ...like it did on 4.1 iOS!.."as we are NOT requesting an open iOS at all, but ...If it's not BROKEN, then WHY fix it"..(new updates then to do more harm than good!) .."6.0 and beyond anyone??"..not ME & not NOW!! Again it should be a choice if you want to update or upgrade..please consider all factors, such as battery-life, ease of use, and the over-all value of your device...mistakes are OK as long as you could REVERT it back, AND don't get fooled AGAIN!
Phil
Phil - March 4, 2013 at 8:35pm
Pretty weak response actually. This only goes along with what ATT has already been doing, i.e. they will unlock your phone once your contract is over. It says absolutely NOTHING about unlocking an under-contract phone for things like overseas use. In other words, this response from the White House is absolutely 100% worthless. Perhaps we will see a more effective response down the road. I wouldn't hold my breath.
Qader
Qader - March 4, 2013 at 8:39pm
How can i now if my contract is over
Anon
Anon - March 4, 2013 at 8:48pm
Call AT&T, they'll do it for you, or tell you a website
ipadguy
ipadguy - March 5, 2013 at 10:27pm
I think the point is people that have businesses unlocking phones can't make a single dollar or they have to really worry about it. and people that have ended their contract can use that phone saving money but if you're still in contract and you want to unlock your phone & go to another carrier... I'm guessing you want this so if you go overseas you can use it on a network over there because they don't have the network you're on over here that's a different point maybe in the future but I don't think quickly... Oh yeah something I always wanted to ask if you're traveling overseas I'm guessing the money it takes to unlock a phone or get another phone should not really be a big deal for you... Right? Well I'm not flying overseas that's a lot of money and I got a bunch of iOS devices laying around I wouldn't even need to buy a new phone but somehow your worried about this, you should have like every version of iPhone sitting around in multiples whatever I may be missing something here? Lol
Dyllon
Dyllon - March 4, 2013 at 8:12pm
This just shows democracy isn't completely broke, but it would be a mistake to petition to open iOS. The reason Cydia is So great is because from Apple blocking it it makes developers have to be better to create the jailbreak and also to create tweaks that stand up to apple standards
AEB
AEB - March 4, 2013 at 7:47pm
VICTORY at last!!..indeed INEVITABLE ..Home of the Free!...The People's Choice of Cell Network to use that depends on WHAT and HOW they prefer to, Should have Been First and Foremost! "What really took us so long??"...(Don;t Be Fooled Again!)
Qader
Qader - March 4, 2013 at 7:32pm
i have an iphone 4 locked on at&t , it is unlocked now
Macer
Macer - March 4, 2013 at 7:14pm
Power to the people
Hackfest
Hackfest - March 4, 2013 at 7:12pm
Amen...
Me
Me - March 4, 2013 at 6:59pm
Do you guys see? People can make a difference. If we didnt have that many people voted we would never had this chance for the government to review it. So lets vote that Apple should allow for an open IOS.
Laroche
Laroche - March 4, 2013 at 6:52pm
Great news! I feel like living in Paris right now. Freedom! Merci Monsieur le président . C'est super!
Mes
Mes - March 4, 2013 at 6:46pm
How about a self-activating iPhone, one that doesn't require a computer?
psychmac
psychmac - March 4, 2013 at 6:53pm
they been like that for the past 2 years, were you been. they can be activated over wifi or 3g connection.
Justin
Justin - March 4, 2013 at 7:03pm
All iPhones ever released will activate wirelessly WITHOUT A COMPUTER . As long as it has network wifi signal and sim.
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