Senator Ron Wyden Introduces Bill to Make Cell Phone Unlocking Legal

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Posted March 6, 2013 at 7:19pm by iClarified

Senator Ron Wyden has introduced the 'Wireless Device Independence Act' a bill that if passed will make cell phone unlocking legal, reports The Hill.

The move comes just one day after the White House and the FCC came out in support of making cell phone unlocking legal in response to a petition that garnered 114,000 signatures. Since 2006, The Library of Congress had issued an exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that allowed for cell phone unlocking; however, it decided not to extend that exemption past January, 2013.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said, "I intend to work in a bipartisan, bicameral fashion to restore users’ ability to unlock their phones and provide them with the choice and freedom that we have all come to expect in the digital era."

Sen. Amy Klobuchar who chairs the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, said she also plans to introduce her own bill this week.

“Consumers should be free to choose the phone and service that best fits their needs and their budgets," Klobuchar said.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz also recently tweeted that he is working on cellphone unlocking legislation. "You own the phone, you should be able to unlock it," he wrote.

All consumers should be thankful to those who took the time the sign petition as it appears to have made a significant impact.

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Senator Ron Wyden Introduces Bill to Make Cell Phone Unlocking Legal

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Mit - March 7, 2013 at 9:23pm

Do we have a petition that will stop the cell phone carriers charging data plan for smartphone even without contract or subsidized? I don't know about other carriers, but I know for sure that AT&T will charge customer data plan if they detect the customer using any smartphone even the customer didn't buy the smartphone through their subsidized program (discount for 2 years contract).

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When - March 7, 2013 at 3:55am

When is it going to start ? I still see notes on Ebay,most sellers are saying your Iphones can't be unlocked if bought after JAN 26th. I bought mine in Feb 2013. Can I still unlock it? Thanks

Ezunlocker - March 9, 2013 at 9:22am

visit ezunlockers.com Its fast, easy and cheap.. I can still unlock your iPhone, coz my base is out of USA. And its illegal to lock your device here.

Sam - March 6, 2013 at 11:51pm

"You own the phone, you should be able to unlock it," when are they going to realize that this should be true as well! You own the phone, you should be able to install any app you want on it.

Chuckie - March 6, 2013 at 11:03pm

He is whining in Japan. Where did you think that he is?

Fred - March 6, 2013 at 8:26pm

Significant impact? Is the author of this article reading the same news that I am? So far, I have only seen any firm commitment to require that we be allowed to unlock a phone with an expired contract. EVERY carrier in the US already allows this.

nekton - March 6, 2013 at 8:35pm

In Japan, we cannot get an iPhone unlocked by Softbank or AU EVER, whether it is on contract or not. I have one old off-contract 3GS and two iPhone 4 units that SB won't unlock so I can't use them overseas with a prepaid SIM when travelling to avoid risk to my still on-contract iPhone 5. People who buy any iPhone here and then subsequently leave Japan, can't use the iPhone they paid for on another overseas carrier's SIM. I have written to Tim Cook asking him to apply a little pressure to President Son of SoftBank but nada? Apple clearly doesn't give a shit that its users in Japan are being screwed over by SB even when the iPhone is off contract. Very very annoying. Japan needs a We The People website too. Of course the solution has been to jailbreak and unlock but that hole is pretty much closed now for later iPhone models and iOS versions.

DNA64 - March 6, 2013 at 11:08pm

You're wrong. I have unlocked several phones including iPhones from Softbank both on and off contract. You'll even find offerings of such services on eBay. - (Please note I do not read replies or follow these posts, I present the facts, end of story.)

nekton - March 6, 2013 at 11:56pm

There are a few places offering occasional IMEI unlocking for $250 a time for a very limited subset of iPhone 4 units (8 (GB only last time I looked). If you want to spend $250 for 4 unlock, be my guest, but SoftBank and AU do NOT offer carrier unlocks—I work in mobile telecommunications and have spent 30 years in Japan and I am right on this. Otherwise show us where and how.

Sam - March 7, 2013 at 12:10am

They made it TOTALLY ILLEGAL after Jan 2013, meaning if you are caught with an "unlocked phone" manufactured after Jan 2013 you could face fines and even jail time lol. So this bill is a HUGE DEAL

nekton - March 6, 2013 at 8:12pm

Now if we could just get the Japanese government to enact something similar and kill the SoftBank/AU iphone monopoly. The government talked about making unlocking compulsory on all new phones about 3 years ago and then the legislation quietly disappeared, suggesting somebody got a large political "donation."