Back on January 26th we reported a story where unlocking smartphones has now become illegal. Not rooting, jailbreaking, or things of that nature, but unlocking a device to be used on different carriers. This exception to the DMCA was what made this legal, and that ended back on the 26th of January. For those looking to do something about it, read on below before time runs out.
Essentially there was an outstanding exception to the DMCA that made this legal, and you could unlock that old family members AT&T phone and use it on T-Mobile using various methods. Now that the rule has been cleared, that is now a crime and technically illegal. While this probably won’t be enforced, it’s still bad news for the consumer.
This was a big deal last month and we’re sure many of you heard about the issue on various blogs. However, the very next day a petition was started to “Make unlocking phones legal” and you can find out more details right here. Basically it needs 100,000 signatures to even be considered by the White House Petition site. If it reaches that goal hopefully congress will revisit the situation and do the right thing. Making unlocking of cellphones and smartphones legal again.
That petition to make unlocking legal again still needs about 31,000 signatures. It’s sitting around 69,000 at the moment, but it will end in 7 days. We need to get the word out, the ball rolling, and tons more signatures otherwise this will fade away. For those looking to sign the petition and let their voice be heard you can do so by heading to the official Petition Page. More details and backstory can be found at the via below.
[via Sina.is]
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/eliminate-penny/28TGMrMw?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl