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In France, there's a similar law that says that a carrier has to allow you to unlock your phone after some time (I believe three months). In the US, you can't
by Timothee 17y ago
In France, there's a similar law that says that a carrier has to allow you to unlock your phone after some time (I believe three months).
In the US, you can't buy the iPhone unlocked (there was a hack on the Apple Store just at the beginning but that's it) and I don't think carriers have any obligation to do so. And that sucks.
- eli 17y agoCorrect. Although it is legal to unlock your phone in the US (it is currently exempt from DMCA), carriers are not obligated to make it easy. And they usually don't. However, I've heard that this is one of the things that Obama's new FCC is going to look into. Edit: In fact there's an article in today's WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/public/b/article/SB125080439024647621.html http://online.wsj.com/public/b/article/SB125080439024647621....
- mustpax 17y agoAre you sure about the DMCA exemption part? I know EFF was petitioning to make carrier unlocking exempt from DMCA. Why would they need to file for this if it was already exempt?
- JimmyL 17y agoDMCA exemptions expire after three years - and SIM unlocking was initially exempted in 2006, so it's up for review now-ish.
- eli 17y agoIndeed. EFF is also pushing for a specific exemption to jailbreaking. http://www.eff.org/cases/2009-dmca-rulemaking http://www.eff.org/cases/2009-dmca-rulemaking