> and have a bad credit score to begin with. If they already have a bad credit score, then the carrier giving them an expensive phone without upfront payment

> and have a bad credit score to begin with. If they already have a bad credit score, then the carrier giving them an expensive phone without upfront payment is kinda on the carrier. I think there's probably a significant net benefit to society from forcing carriers to unlock phones by default. If you're overseas, or need to temporarily use another carrier - you can. If a carrier is not willing to carry the risk that someone who has bad credit might break the contract for an expensive phone - then I think perhaps that's not such a bad thing.