Sherwin from Public Knowledge writes, “The Copyright Office and the Library of Congress think that copyright law and the DMCA make it illegal to unlock your phone and take it to a new carrier. This is plainly ridiculous: a year ago, 114,000 Americans wrote the White House to tell them that, and the White House agreed. So did the FCC. And, eventually, so did the phone companies, who say they’ll work to unlock most consumers’ phones for them. But the law has stayed the same. It’s still illegal for you, even if you’ve paid off your entire contract, to take it upon yourself to unlock your own phone.”
It’s time to change that. A bipartisan bill (H.R.1123, the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act) has been proposed to reverse the decision that made phone unlocking illegal, and it’s coming up for a vote in the House soon. We’re asking you to support it.
We want Congress to get the message that copyright law and the DMCA aren’t all-purpose tools to be whipped out anytime someone needs a way to restrict consumers. That message can start with this simple ask.
Act Now : Tell Congress to Support the Unlocking Consumer Choice & Wireless Competition Act!
(Thanks, Sherwin!)
(Image: Unlocked Cell Phone Shack, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from consumerist’s photostream)