4 ms·

I think these phones should be unlocked the day you sign up for a contract. What's the point in keeping them unlocked? You can't violate your contract. I can th

by dazne 12y ago

I think these phones should be unlocked the day you sign up for a contract. What's the point in keeping them unlocked? You can't violate your contract. I can think of one downside for them carriers: they won't be able to charge you extra when you travel abroad, but then you have to ask if that's really in the best interest of the customers? Perhaps not.

NoPiece 12y ago
You definitely can violate your contract. Just stop paying your bill. Or declare bankruptcy. The carrier will try to collect, but even if they do they'll end up with a fraction of the value.
- bad_user 12y ago
  Most phones can be unlocked. For an iPhone, the difficult part is to jailbreak it and doing it yourself can be a little painful, but that hasn't been a problem for many people. So somebody stops paying their bill, or declares bankruptcy. Do you think there's anything stopping them from unlocking their phones for pennies? As an anecdote, I once stopped paying my bills to Vodafone and gave up on my contract obligations. At that time Vodafone demanded a 250 EUR interruption fee, which in the meantime became illegal in my country. Well, I told them to dare and sue me, because I have proof of unjust treatment and service disruption on their part and I did have that evidence. Basically they were assholes, they knew it and they gave up on any claims. I also unlocked my iPhone 3GS by myself and moved my business somewhere else. Just like DRM, there is absolutely no valid reason for selling locked phones, other than lock-in, i.e. to prevent you from using other carriers while in roaming and thus suffer roaming charges. But even that is just annoying, because you can get unlocked feature phones for $30 without a contract, with a battery that lasts for a whole week and just use that.
dazne 12y ago
Correction: I meant, what's the point in keeping them locked?
coldpie 12y ago
Prosecuting a violated contract takes money itself. You have to do the cost/benefit of prosecuting users and losing subsidized phones vs. paying to develop locks and maintaining an unlock process.

by dazne 12y ago

NoPiece 12y ago

You definitely can violate your contract. Just stop paying your bill. Or declare bankruptcy. The carrier will try to collect, but even if they do they'll end up with a fraction of the value.

bad_user 12y ago
Most phones can be unlocked. For an iPhone, the difficult part is to jailbreak it and doing it yourself can be a little painful, but that hasn't been a problem for many people. So somebody stops paying their bill, or declares bankruptcy. Do you think there's anything stopping them from unlocking their phones for pennies? As an anecdote, I once stopped paying my bills to Vodafone and gave up on my contract obligations. At that time Vodafone demanded a 250 EUR interruption fee, which in the meantime became illegal in my country. Well, I told them to dare and sue me, because I have proof of unjust treatment and service disruption on their part and I did have that evidence. Basically they were assholes, they knew it and they gave up on any claims. I also unlocked my iPhone 3GS by myself and moved my business somewhere else. Just like DRM, there is absolutely no valid reason for selling locked phones, other than lock-in, i.e. to prevent you from using other carriers while in roaming and thus suffer roaming charges. But even that is just annoying, because you can get unlocked feature phones for $30 without a contract, with a battery that lasts for a whole week and just use that.

dazne 12y ago

Correction: I meant, what's the point in keeping them locked?

coldpie 12y ago

Prosecuting a violated contract takes money itself. You have to do the cost/benefit of prosecuting users and losing subsidized phones vs. paying to develop locks and maintaining an unlock process.