As reported by Phone Scoop, the Library of Congress has issued a ruling that exempts the unlocking of cell phones from violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This means that it is not illegal (for a few years, anyway) to unlock carrier-locked cell phones.
Wireless cell phone carriers like Cingular, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint lock their cell phones so that they can only be used only on their respective networks. Cingular and T-Mobile operate on GSM technology while Sprint and Verizon Wirelsss operate on CDMA. So when you buy a Cingular cell phone you can't use a T-Mobile SIM card in it (SIM cards contain your account information and are only used on GSM networks. If you have a Sprint or Verizon Wireless cell phone you don't have a SIM card).
So why do the carriers lock cell phones? Well, that $50 Cingular Motorola Razr doesn't cost them $50. It costs about $250. However, the the carrier offers to give you a great deal but in exchange you agree to a 2 year contract, which more then pays for the phone. However, let's say a year down the road you want to switch to T-Mobile. You can't use the same phone because it's locked and if you put in a T-Mobile SIM card the phone won't work.
For years people have been able to buy unlocking software or pay an online "service" to help you unlock the phone. The carriers seemed to feel that removing a carrier lock was a violation of federal law but I don't think anyone has ever been prosecuted for doing so. Now you can freely do this and not worry about violating federal laws.
This is really only applicable to Cingular and T-Mobile customers. Although Verizon and Sprint are on CDMA, the technology works much different then GSM. Think of GSM as open source and CDMA as proprietary. You can't easily unlock a Verizon phone and use it on Sprint's network for many technical reasons. For example, your account information is linked to a particular cell phone, not a SIM card like on GSM networks. So you can't unlock a Sprint phone and use it on Verizon's network without Verizon specifically authorizing you to do so and without making tweaks to the radio programming. I just don't see Verizon supporting Sprint phones (and vice versa) anytime soon.
With the legalization of phone unlocking, the users now have a wider choice of phones which can be availed from another carrier, other than the one where they've subscribed to. There will be no loss on the part of the carriers since their subscribers still pay them for the phone even if they don't completely use their service.
Posted by: Elliott Bellaire | June 22, 2011 at 09:58 AM