Cell Phone Unlocking has been something of a confusing arena over the past few years in the U.S. First, an exemption in the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) allowed it, and then it didn’t. Then a bill was proposed to make it legal again, a bill which the US Congress and Senate both had to pass. Which they did last week.
All it needed to become officially rubber-stamped was a signature from President Obama, and then it would be made law.
Today, in a post on the White House’s site, the government announced that the President has now made Unlocking cellphones legal again. The law is subject to review every three years.
Today, President Obama will sign into law the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, and in doing so, will achieve a rare trifecta: a win for American consumers, a win for wireless competition, and an example of democracy at its best — bipartisan congressional action in direct response to a call to action from the American people.
The whole issue here was freedom. The movement is quite right that customers should have the ability to use their phones how they want to as soon as they’re paid for. It seems ludicrous that it should have ever been illegal.
On a T-Mobile-specific note, it’ll be interesting to see if this newly passed law will mean the company can finally launch its phone unlocking software, and announce it officially?
Read the full post at WhiteHouse.gov