On Jan 29, 1:05*pm, Alex Bell wrote:
wrote:
As of Saturday, it became illegal to unlock your cell phone.

I believe that it was the library of congress, not the whitehouse or the
president or the USPTO, that came down with that ruling.

Because circumventing the software inside your phone that locks it to a
specific carrier falls under copyright legislation, and the library of
congress can apparently make some broad rulings about when copyright
rules apply - and when they don't.

This is mostly aimed at literally crushing the used phone market.
They want you to use your phone until the contract is out and trade
it in on a newer phone with a new contract.

New phones cost the service providers money - because they have to
subsidize the cost (to the tune of hundreds of dollars, some times up to
$650 for iPhone). *I'm sure they'd rather not have to do that.

Then they crush the old phone.

No, there are lots of used (refurbished) phones that get used in
secondary markets.

Interesting that Apple sells their iPhones unlocked here in Canada.

When you've been paying $60 a month on a 2-year contract and were given
a new iPhone when the contract started, of that $60, $20 went to pay for
the phone. *After 2 years, you own the phone, and should be able to use
it on any network. *But because it's locked to the original carrier,
they expect you'll come back to them after the contract is over and keep
using your 2-year-old phone on their network.

Old phones get sent to third world countries. Where they unlock them
and re-use.