Unlocking Cell Phones Becomes Illegal 1/26/2013

[TECSHARE]

http://www.technewsdaily.com/16514-unlocking-cellphones-becomes-illegal.html

[SgtSpike]

What a stupid law. People should have the right to do whatever the fuck they like with the phone that they paid for.

Every single phone I've ever bought I've unlocked myself, this sure as hell isn't going to stop me from doing it again, in fact I'm going to make sure the next phone I buy is locked just so I can unlock it, its my phone for christ sake. This is completely ridiculous.

This is the equivalent to selling paper and saying you can't draw a cat on it because the big man in the government said so.

What is the world coming to.

Isn't it because you sign a contract when you buy the phone at a steeply discounted price that says "Hey, I know you're giving me a fantastic deal on this phone, so for that reason, I'll keep it locked on your network"?

Simple solution is to not sign said contract and not buy a phone requiring one.

I agree that it is silly, but people should learn not to sign silly contracts if they don't want to be held to their silly terms.

[SgtSpike]

What a stupid law. People should have the right to do whatever the fuck they like with the phone that they paid for.

Every single phone I've ever bought I've unlocked myself, this sure as hell isn't going to stop me from doing it again, in fact I'm going to make sure the next phone I buy is locked just so I can unlock it, its my phone for christ sake. This is completely ridiculous.

This is the equivalent to selling paper and saying you can't draw a cat on it because the big man in the government said so.

What is the world coming to.

Isn't it because you sign a contract when you buy the phone at a steeply discounted price that says "Hey, I know you're giving me a fantastic deal on this phone, so for that reason, I'll keep it locked on your network"?

Simple solution is to not sign said contract and not buy a phone requiring one.

I agree that it is silly, but people should learn not to sign silly contracts if they don't want to be held to their silly terms.

It's typically a two year contract. If the contract says that you may not unlock the phone during this time, there is no need for a law.

I've not read the law, but if it goes above and beyond any contract, it's ridiculous.

Fair points.  I agree.

Isn't it because you sign a contract when you buy the phone at a steeply discounted price that says "Hey, I know you're giving me a fantastic deal on this phone, so for that reason, I'll keep it locked on your network"?

Simple solution is to not sign said contract and not buy a phone requiring one.

I agree that it is silly, but people should learn not to sign silly contracts if they don't want to be held to their silly terms.

I've never signed any paperwork at all when buying a phone (we all use pay-as-you-go phones where I'm from).

Anyways, I have the legal right to smash that phone up with a hammer, throw it in a fire or drop it down the toilet right after I buy it. Surely they should make this illegal as well, because that would prevent them from recouping the discounts they gave me on the phone.

Also, I've yet to actually see any locked phone be cheaper than a sim-free phone. They're roughly the same price, but the networks get them in months/years before they become available sim-free. Maybe thats just the case where I'm from.

Interesting.  It's vastly different in the US, where a locked iPhone (with contract) costs you $200, and an unlocked iPhone would cost $800.  I haven't delved into the pay-as-you-go market here though, which might align more closely with what you see.

[SgtSpike]

Interesting.  It's vastly different in the US, where a locked iPhone (with contract) costs you $200, and an unlocked iPhone would cost $800.  I haven't delved into the pay-as-you-go market here though, which might align more closely with what you see.

Its the same here. A billpay iPhone 5 would cost around 100euro but you'd be stuck paying 50euro/mo for the next X years. One on pay-as-you-go would cost 600euro but 20euro's topup would last around 6-8 months, and you can topup with as little as 5euro & can still receive calls/texts when you have no credit (and make them using Skype ). The phone companies have tried all sorts of marketing to try and get us Irish on billpay phones, it hasn't worked much. The only person I know who has a billpay phone is from the US.

IMO I could never imagine having a "phone bill". That would suck soo much. What happens then when you lose/break your phone, I'd be pretty pissed off paying every month for a phone I don't even have.

I dunno.  I'd be just as pissed if I had just spend 600 euro on one and broke it.  Either way, I'd have to replace it.

I think I might look into pay-as-you-go, or at the very least, non-contract phone plans come this October.  We really don't use them all that much for phone, mostly just data.

[nebulus]

And how exactly is "this law" enforceable?

[SgtSpike]

I dunno.  I'd be just as pissed if I had just spend 600 euro on one and broke it.  Either way, I'd have to replace it.

Look at it this way:

http://www.three.ie/online/shop/productDetail.aspx?src=p&p=voice&pid=1494&tariffType=contract

iPhone 4S, you get it for free on a 61euro/mo plan for 24months, if you loose your phone, you have to pay 1464euro in total.

http://www.three.ie/online/shop/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=1507&p=voice&tariffType=prepay&step=2&src=p&edt=0&itemId=0&dch=0

You buy it pay-as-you-go and it costs you 549euro once off. Not so bad if you loose it then, and the savings are pretty obvious.

Good point.  But, pay-as-you-go, you're still paying for some level of service (which you have conveniently discluded from your calculations).  The savings is in the service type - if you don't use your phone much, you'll save a great deal over the contracted plan.

[Monster Tent]

And how exactly is "this law" enforceable?

You cant buy a pre paid phone credits here without handing over ID.

[nebulus]

And how exactly is "this law" enforceable?

You cant buy a pre paid phone credits here without handing over ID.

Sounds like a market opportunity for BTC.

[Monster Tent]

You cant buy a pre paid phone credits here without handing over ID.

REALLY? now that is crazy. You can buy them from literally any shop over here, no ID at all. My network has none of my personal details. I think the system the US phone networks use is rubbish, no way would anyone over here hand over personal details to a network (exception being billpay phones as thats basically a loan).

Over here you can walk into any networks shop and ask for a sim card. They'll just hand you one, its free, no paperwork or ID. They give them out for free outside college campuses. Much better than the US system IMO.

Yes you can buy top ups without ID but to actually get onto any network you cant get past the ID. Theres no way to actually access the system without government ID.

[Littleshop]

What a stupid law. People should have the right to do whatever the fuck they like with the phone that they paid for.

Every single phone I've ever bought I've unlocked myself, this sure as hell isn't going to stop me from doing it again, in fact I'm going to make sure the next phone I buy is locked just so I can unlock it, its my phone for christ sake. This is completely ridiculous.

This is the equivalent to selling paper and saying you can't draw a cat on it because the big man in the government said so.

What is the world coming to.

Isn't it because you sign a contract when you buy the phone at a steeply discounted price that says "Hey, I know you're giving me a fantastic deal on this phone, so for that reason, I'll keep it locked on your network"?

Simple solution is to not sign said contract and not buy a phone requiring one.

I agree that it is silly, but people should learn not to sign silly contracts if they don't want to be held to their silly terms.

It's typically a two year contract. If the contract says that you may not unlock the phone during this time, there is no need for a law.

I've not read the law, but if it goes above and beyond any contract, it's ridiculous.

Agreed.  This shows how much power these companies have over the political system.  They can already take you to court if you do not honor the contract.  That should be enough.  The government does not need to be involved unless there is a trial. 

[Monster Tent]

Yes you can buy top ups without ID but to actually get onto any network you cant get past the ID. Theres no way to actually access the system without government ID.

Ah, so to buy a prepaid phone/sim card you need ID. Yeah I hope that never happens over here

I wonder how drug-dealers get around this, I mean, once the police get a dealers phone number, they can then get the dealers name and address?

Now you know why silk road is so popular.

Drug dealers do what they always did and get a "cleanskin" to front the phone or simply buy a fake ID.

As always laws only punish people doing the right thing and make it easier for criminals. The answer is black market reloaded and silk road.

[Transisto]

No need for a law, This is only a lack of technical skill or cooperation between phone maker and carrier.

Try jailbreaking an iPhone 5...

[cosmicone]

I'm guessing this is USA only??  Doesn't apply to most of the world luckily, but I doubt it will be long before we all fall in line... argh.

[sounds]

Personally it baffles me why anyone would want to pay AT&T, considering what they do to you.

[sounds]

My politically active ... friends ... don't use Apple products because of the lockdown. And it's too mainstream.

[sounds]

Good poll going on here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=139033.0

[World]

nice article couple of days ago
http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/21/behind-the-scenes-of-the-iphone-5-jailbreak/

[elektibi75]

What a stupid law. People should have the right to do whatever the fuck they like with the phone that they paid for.

Every single phone I've ever bought I've unlocked myself, this sure as hell isn't going to stop me from doing it again, in fact I'm going to make sure the next phone I buy is locked just so I can unlock it, its my phone for christ sake. This is completely ridiculous.

This is the equivalent to selling paper and saying you can't draw a cat on it because the big man in the government said so.

What is the world coming to.

Isn't it because you sign a contract when you buy the phone at a steeply discounted price that says "Hey, I know you're giving me a fantastic deal on this phone, so for that reason, I'll keep it locked on your network"?

Simple solution is to not sign said contract and not buy a phone requiring one.

I agree that it is silly, but people should learn not to sign silly contracts if they don't want to be held to their silly terms.

I completely agree!!!

[Jennifer Smith]

I was looking at Chronic Unlocks for unlocking information and noticed they listed the iPhone 5S, which is obviously manufactured after the cutoff date. It must just be a United States thing, right?

[Spendulus]

Yes you can buy top ups without ID but to actually get onto any network you cant get past the ID. Theres no way to actually access the system without government ID.

Ah, so to buy a prepaid phone/sim card you need ID. Yeah I hope that never happens over here....

I have not ever given ID to people I bought phones or sim cards to.

I buy phones and sim cards off of Ebay.

USA.

I use rooted Android phone and prefer Samsung S3, 7500 mAh battery, 64gb microsd+16gb internal memory, on which I keep 2 copies of Wikipedia.