White House Agrees, You Shouldn’t Go to Jail For Unlocking Cellphones, FCC Looking to Get More Involved

The White House
responded today to a
petition calling for the decriminalization of the act of
unlocking your phone (making it possible to use with another
service provider once you’re off-contract), saying it agrees that
the practice should be allowed. It was considered illegal under the
Digital Copyright Millennium Act until an exemption issued by the
Library of Congress in 2006 that was not renewed last year. Ars
Technica
reports on the response:

“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,” writes R. David Edelman, a
White House advisor. “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.” 

…Edelman’s statement ends by calling for “narrow legislative fixes”
that would make it clear: unlocking your cell phone isn’t a crime.
In addition to legislation, the White House also calls for the FCC
to play a role. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski
released a
statement (PDF) this morning saying that his agency is
“looking into whether the agency, wireless providers, or
others should take action to preserve consumers’ ability
to unlock their mobile phones.”

What would the FCC need to be involved with? If federal law
prevents you from unlocking your phone, then repealing the law
ought to suffice. After all, it’s not technical
limitations that thwart phone unlocking.

The petition that yielded the White House response was backed by
 Derek Khanna, the author of a memo by the Republican Study
Committee that
engaged copyright as an entitlement issue. The memo was
withdrawn after it caused too much of a stir in Washington and
Hollywood, and Khanna no longer works for the RSC. He talked to
Reason TV about that memo and the petition to allow phone-unlocking
last month:

More Reason on copyright

2013-03-04 14:00:22

Source: http://reason.com/blog/2013/03/04/white-house-agrees-you-shouldnt-go-to-ja