back to article Senate heavyweights forge bipartisan accord on phone unlocking

Two US senators – the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee – have announced a rare bit of bipartisanism in the fractious US government: they've agreed on a bill to allow consumers to unlock their smartphones once their carrier contracts expire. Democrat Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Republican Chuck …

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  1. veti Silver badge
    WTF?

    If this bill is as simple as that...

    ... then why are there so many different versions of it?

    How many ways can you write this provision into law, if that's all there is to it?

    Or alternatively, how much other miscellaneous special-interest crap are they trying to foist on the public under this populist rubric?

  2. Herby

    Now if they would...

    Get rid of the necessary subsidy payments after the contract period as well, that would be nice as well.

    The standard contract when you buy a Jesus phone has three components:

    1) The up-front cost of the silly device

    2) The subsidy that the carrier pays to the Jesus phone maker (makes my stock better!)

    3) The cost of the plan you buy.

    Unfortunately #2 and #3 are combined in what you pay FOREVER! Bummer!!

  3. RedneckMother

    oh

    (Fuck|Thank) You! (Fuck|Thank) you for FINALLY noticing that we paid for the device, and should be able to do whatever the (Fuck|Thank) we want with it.

    What a buncha of (T|F)ools...

  4. JaitcH
    FAIL

    Congressional priorities - total screw up

    The two parties fight over providing health care to the tens of millions without any health insurance ... still arguing after years of fighting, yet a minor commercial proposal rockets through.

    You have to wonder what drives the GOP.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Funny...

    How when Sen. Leahy gets involved that whatever bill is being worked on languishes for months with no progress then ultimately lapses which suits industry just fine. Keep an eye on it, almost certainly for the trash bin Again.

  6. Financegozu

    Hopefully this will solve the world's most pressing problem ...

    ... solved that, we can go on to tackle minor issues like hunger, wars, overpopulation, affordable medical treatment, ...

  7. IglooDude

    From what I've seen, "common sense legislation" rarely involves common sense, and "bipartisan agreement" means the two major parties have figured out how to get what they want and it's only the commoners getting screwed.

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