5 years behind bars for unlocking your phone

[Glenn]

Seems a little harsh to me.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/01/the-most-ridiculous-law-of-2013-so-far-it-is-now-a-crime-to-unlock-your-smartphone/272552/

[zappaDPJ]

I can't say I'm surprised, the US has a habit of passing ridiculous laws e.g. the 'Three Strikes Law' which saw Jerry Williams jailed for 25 years for stealing a slice of pizza

[Niall]

I quite like the three strikes law. It's a good deterrent I'd have thought. You'd have to be a moron to steal pizza when you're on two strikes though

[Simon]

Yes, make it worthwhile and nick a Ferrari! 

[Simon]

I believe it's technically been illegal to unlock a phone in the US for years, but it's practically impossible to enforce.

[pctech]

Yes, make it worthwhile and nick a Ferrari! 

The cellular mobile phone companies out there have a lot of power, they probably make large political donations too.

[zappaDPJ]

I believe it's technically been illegal to unlock a phone in the US for years, but it's practically impossible to enforce.

I think you may be right. I believe this is an expiring amnesty rather than a change in the law.

[Technical Ben]

I quite like the three strikes law. It's a good deterrent I'd have thought. You'd have to be a moron to steal pizza when you're on two strikes though

Until you get done because someone has it in for you, and it's impossible not to live and break one of the millions of laws.

[cavillas]

I wonder how the argument would work out if someone bought a new phone that wasn't locked to a phone company?

[kinmel]

The "Land of the Free" has always been repressed by it's Government, because no U.S. politician has ever allowed freedom to get in the way of their pork barrel.

[gizmo71]

I wonder how the argument would work out if someone bought a new phone that wasn't locked to a phone company?

It's perfectly legal to buy, own and use an unlocked phone. You just aren't allowed to unlock one.

The real problem is the practice of selling/giving away 'free' phones in exchange for long contracts. I'm surprised no independent retailers have never gotten together to sue the carriers for this anti-competitive piece of market distortion.

[Simon]

I've had a number of contract phones from O2 in the past, and I think it was common knowledge that they used to be issued unlocked.  Not sure if that's still the case. 

[nowster]

T-Mobile and Orange do SIM lock all their handsets to their own networks. Some phones are trivial to unlock (eg. early Nokias). Some phones need a little knowledge (eg. my out-of-contract HTC Desire). It's not illegal to unlock a phone in Europe, nor does it void the warranty.

[pctech]

The "Land of the Free" has always been repressed by it's Government, because no U.S. politician has ever allowed freedom to get in the way of their pork barrel.

And they'll do away with any fellow politician that threatens to.

[Technical Ben]

T-Mobile and Orange do SIM lock all their handsets to their own networks. Some phones are trivial to unlock (eg. early Nokias). Some phones need a little knowledge (eg. my out-of-contract HTC Desire). It's not illegal to unlock a phone in Europe, nor does it void the warranty.

That's because they have half a brain to know the legality lies in the contract, not what the customer does with the product. IE, a customer can buy a car on HP and drive it off a cliff as long as they continue to uphold the contract of paying. But why it's thought that a phone is it's self the contract, I've no idea. I understand it's "collateral" and can be claimed back due to non-payment, but again, that's not a legality, it's a contractual obligation. 

[dlorde]

It's not illegal to unlock a phone in Europe, nor does it void the warranty.

One wonders how the US law applies - a European who takes an unlocked phone into the US ought to be safe, but what about the US citizen who gets a phone unlocked on a visit to Europe? Is it a question of the original contract provider?