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Finally: Cell phone unlocking is legal in the U.S. once again

Published Aug 1st, 2014 3:30PM EDT
Cell Phone Unlocking Legal

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Beginning Friday, August 1st, it is once again legal to unshackle your carrier-locked cell phone in the United States. President Obama on Friday signed the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act into law, thus giving cell phone users the legal right to unlock their handsets.

Smartphones are often sold locked by wireless carriers in the U.S., meaning that the devices can only operate on the contracted carrier’s network despite being technically compatible with other networks. This new law will make unlocking those cell phones for use on other networks via a third party legal once again after an amendment to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act made it illegal last year.

“[This] effort began with a digital petition on the White House’s We the People site, an online platform where citizens can offer ideas for the Administration to take action on important issues facing our country,” Senator Patrick Leahy and President Obama’s economic advisor Jeff Zients wrote on the White House blog. “A digital rights activist named Sina Khanifar submitted a simple request: restore an exception to the law to let consumers take their mobile phone to the carrier that best suits their needs by ‘unlocking’ the device.”

The post continued, “The petition drew an extraordinary response, with more than 114,000 citizens making their voices heard. And within two weeks, the White House answered with a call to action, laying out steps the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), industry, and Congress could take to ensure copyright law would not undermine wireless competition.”

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.