back to article In the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave ... you can legally carrier unlock your own phone

Here at Vulture West, we're looking out for porcine aviators: the usually divided US House of Representatives unanimously passed a law allowing people who've bought phones to actually unlock the things from their carriers. It comes just a week after the Senate showed a similarly united stance. "With today's House passage of …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The fact that you have to go to these lengths confirms just how little power the US consumer has, and how reclaiming rights from corporations has become a never ending battle... Fuck-you dead beat congress!

    1. Salts

      Cynical not so old me...

      Well, guess it proves one thing, when the people in government are getting screwed, they do something about it. Guess a *'sexual' partner needed to move network and was pissed at the cost.

      * Being politically correct, should have said bit on the side :-)

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      A country where it's your God given right to buy assault weapons at Walmart but can't unlock your phone.

      Has anyone noticed that countries that God appears to take the most interest in are generally the most fsked up?

  2. sisk

    Congress actually did something that's good for the people and counter to what the corporations wanted? Excuse me for a second. I'm using every method I know to check and make sure I'm awake and not dreaming.

    1. Tom 35

      The real surprise is that they didn't tack on some totally unrelated junk.

  3. Pu02

    "... getting a law passed has been a slow and tortuous process. Although the House passed a bill on the matter last year it took until last week for the Senate to stir"

    Too bad all the unusable phones are now last year's model and 'need' to be replaced!

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The land of the slightly free.

    So you can buy something, pay for it, own it completely and by the grace of your corporation-driven masters you can even tinker with what you now own, in the Home of the Brave!

    I hope Americans aren't holding their breaths for the same freedoms enjoyed by other countries that aren't yet stifled by one of their "Free" Trade agreements.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The land of the slightly free.

      "So you can buy something, pay for it, own it completely and by the grace of your corporation-driven masters you can even tinker with what you now own, in the Home of the Brave!"

      Nobody said that the networks had to unlock the phone for free. The nastier networks will undoubtedly try and stiff the users for unlocking handsets (EE/Orange/Tmobile do this in the UK), and for a handset that's two years old, paying $30 to have it unlocked may leave a bad taste. Obviously you could get the high street shops to unlock for $10, but even so it is still a cost on the consumer.

      If Congress had really been working for voters, then they would have banned network locking in the first place - so far from being a win for consumers, this legislation shows that big corporates still write the rules.

      1. big_D Silver badge

        Re: The land of the slightly free.

        That's why I generally buy an unlocked phone to begin with. You don't get the branding crud stuck on it and it generally costs the same or less than buying it "on contract".

      2. CaptainBanjax

        Re: The land of the slightly free.

        Yeah maybe...but most people dont realise its cheaper to buy the phone you want up front from somewhere like amazon rather than buying it off your carrier.

        The issue is how people percieve expense. It seems more affordable to pay £35 a month for tep years rather than £400 up front for the phone with a tenner a month contract. Factor in selling the phone after two years or sending it off to be recycled and you're saving hundreds of pounds and your phone was never locked.

        People just dont want to save up anymore. They want the new shiney NOW!

        1. big_D Silver badge

          Re: The land of the slightly free.

          Here in Germany a lot of people are buying up front. Although the younger generation don't seem to have such a problem with buying a phone on credit - my generation and older seem to see buying on credit is losing face or admitting defeat.

          One of the reasons I like living in Germany. Many shops still don't take credit cards, you have to pay with a debit card or cold hard cash, even the electrical retailers, the equivalent of Dixons, don't take credit cards.

  5. Jeffrey Nonken
    Meh

    Yeah. Our wonderful Congress is looking out for us by putting band-aids on bad laws rather than... I dunno, say, fixing those laws?

    Well, at least it's better than nothing.

  6. swampdog

    Begs the question, why on earth did the sheeples buy such things in the first place.

    Hmm, think I've answered myself.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Begs the question, why on earth did the sheeples buy such things in the first place."

    To state the bleeding obvious, because if you want a top line phone it is a lot less painful to have it on contract than to fork out $$$ for a sim free model, even if the maths shows that buying on contract costs more. For a single person with high disposable income buying SIM free is painless, for everybody else it isn't.

    In this household I'm paying for a small fleet of four phones on the same replacement cycle, so buying four SIM free handsets would cost me a couple of thousand up front. And by choosing contract phones on run-out (eg Galaxy S3 at end of last year, probably S4 end of this year), I get a deal where I'd struggle to save money buying SIM free.

  8. John Tserkezis

    Good news.

    Let's just hope it doesn't turn into the farce it's become here in Australia.

    It's been legal to shoehorn your phone from your old locked provider, but it either costs many times the price of the phone, or, it's "free", but they make you run through so many hoops you give up and buy another anyway.

    Yes, yes, I know there are going to be a few "it just took a phone call" responses, but face it, you're one of the lucky ones.

    1. Fihart

      @ John Tserkezis

      Similar in UK -- £20 to the telco to get a code to unlock a phone or (often) about the same to dodgy corner shop to do it for you . Problem really is that many phones, after a 24 month contract, are not worth £20 or, at least, a new phone is more tempting.

      Unlocking and rooting Android -- maybe not worth the risk with a new phone, not worth the trouble with an older one.

      So stuff goes to landfill unnecessarily

      Basically, telcos need to be told to automatically unlock phones for free at end of contract or stop locking contract phones in the first place. Personally I'd rather see the end of the telcos phone selling cartel and let them just provide connections on transparent terms. This would make it profitable for regular retailers to sell phones that work with any telco, at competitive prices.

      My guess is that as smartphones become increasingly commoditised people will ship in grey market phones from lesser brands (not least because models not crippled by telcos have twin SIM slots) .

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Its just a token tinkering of the law.

    In the grander and bigger of schemes, consumers are still at the mercy of Big corporations.

    Witness the holiday ticket prices. Why are there no laws despite customers being screwed royally during school holidays ?

    All the airlines and agents put up headline grabbing adverts for exotic destinations. Only for you to call them and be told : the Fares are available but there are no seats at that price !! Surprise Surprise.

    Seats are available though at a higher price (different class - my ass) in the same fucking aircaraft and same fucking cabin and same fucking seats and the same fucking date of travel and the same fucking grumpy crew (its just a different class - whats that?).

    Can these whoring politicians amend the law about this? No chance,I'd say.

    Because airlines pay big at election times.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Its just a token tinkering of the law.

      Perhaps the seemingly cheap flights/hols are merely a ploy to stimulate interest, a form of deception whereby there may only be a very small number (two) seats available at the incredible initial offer price? You were surprised they had all been sold ?? Yeah right. Do you believe in UFO's, yeti's, and loch nessy too by any chance?

      This is all neo-con(liberal), tea party, free market capitalism, suck up and enjoy... That goes for the telco's too, soon Uncle Sams' sheeple will see the real cost of freedom.

      1. keith_w

        Re: Its just a token tinkering of the law.

        Or it could simply be the laws of supply and demand, when demand is high (eg, holiday season), prices rise until the demand balances supply, similarly, when demand is low (non-holiday season) prices lower to attract demand.

        1. Gannon (J.) Dick

          Re: Its just a token tinkering of the law.

          "laws of supply and demand" ... um, I'm pretty sure they are just suggestions of unknown origin.

          Not really "laws" as we understand them, but rather like a Great White Shark attack without ambient dampness.

  10. gautam

    And....

    ... come September, BA will be all over the advert pages (spending millions) crowing, singing and dancing about World Offers and "to fly - to serve" slogans.

  11. Unicornpiss
    Alert

    Work around the system?

    Even before this passed (at our company), we could usually call our carriers and get them to unlock a phone for us. Sometimes it took some creative liberties with the truth as to why we needed it, but we could usually get it done. Oddly, this is easiest with AT&T, though EVERY other type of transaction we made was difficult with them. And of course there are services all over the web that will let you pay to unlock a phone, albeit quasi-legally I guess.

    But despite the outcry, I also agree with Ledswinger: Not only is it prohibitively expensive for the average Joe to afford a $600 smartphone without it being subsidized, a lot of people/families also like being able to have insurance coverage on their phones. Despite insurance being a rip-off for most people, it's useful for families that have a few teens that all 'must' have smartphones. People, especially young adults, are always dropping, abusing, getting phones stolen, or just plain prematurely wearing them out from constant use. It makes more sense to have insurance, even with a $50 or more deductible in this situation when you have a teen with a $600 smartphone.

    1. Adrian 4

      Re: Work around the system?

      Are they worth $600 ? Are there any other credit agreements where you can back out without cost ?

      I don't have any love for the networks, especially if they try to gouge way more than the cost of the phone from their customers. But I don't think it's entirely unrealistic to expect the consumer to pay back their loan, one way or another.

      1. Moosh

        Re: Work around the system?

        This is unrelated to the article directly, but in reference to the high cost of flagship smartphones; I believe we are beginning to see a shift towards cheaper, just as well made Chinese phones. Everywhere I go on the internet, I see people either praising or bashing OnePlus; those praising it are looking to get a Chinese phone. Those bashing it are instead recommending a Xiaomi, Huawei or Oppo phone. There is a real market for affordable phones, so much so that the stigma of percieved shoddy Chinese build quality appears to gradually be fading.

        I hope 2014 will be remembered for being the start of something bigger regarding affordable high-end mobile phones.

  12. Luna Tick

    Not sure what all teh fuss is about

    While a logical step, honestly this really makes little difference. Wooptie-freaking-do. I can now unlock my AT&T phone. To do what with, exactly? Oh, I can switch carriers! What carriers? The 4 pathetic incumbents we enjoy in this 2nd world country are completely incompatible with one another as far as today's usage of phones and mobile devices goes. This maybe makes sense in Europe where most everyone is on the same page, here...not so much.

    Some years ago I purchased an unlocked phone. Cost me an arm and half my leg, but due to differences in operating frequencies it really could only (then) be used properly on T-Mobile. When after a while I'd decided to move to AT&T because T-Mobile's signal could only be found on Tuesdays on the corner of Jefferson and Main, then current $600 toy was as good as dead to me. So yea, the other arm and remaining half of the leg.

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: Not sure what all teh fuss is about

      Because until now it was illegal to do it, to promote any service to do it, or even to discuss the technology needed to do it - under the DMCA.

      Murder is illegal, but even the US doesn't ban "Murder She Wrote" as a discussion of technical means.

  13. Unicornpiss

    @Moosh - Cheap Chinese phones

    It only makes sense--since iPhones and other devices have been made in China since the beginning, you'd expect they've learned something about how to cheaply produce a good quality phone. In fact all of the Chinese goods are steadily improving. If you live in the USA, Harbor Freight tools is a good example--when they first opened, they had variable quality junk. Now I have no qualms with buying tools there. I think I realized how much things have changed when I broke a Craftsman screwdriver, then switched to a Chinese-made one to finish the job. (which didn't break)

    This has been a continual progression--in the 50s and 60s, Japanese-made goods were viewed as junk and as a curiosity. Within a couple of decades their quality improved until they were the world's main supplier of decent electronics. Next a lot of silicon was made in Malaysia. Then Korea followed suit in exactly the same way as Japan. Now the trend is shifting to China. Makes you wonder what country will develop next into an industrial powerhouse.

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: @Moosh - Cheap Chinese phones

      >Makes you wonder what country will develop next into an industrial powerhouse.

      Detroit ?

  14. Gabor Laszlo

    Big whoop

    My trusty old SGH-E770 was getting old, so I went looking for a replacement. Such a good design should surely have a modern variant? Well, no. In Samsung's current lineup there's nothing that can do all the same things the E770 could.

    Oh, wait, there's the Rugby line, rugged and close enough in spec. Yay! Okay, let's order an unlocked one from eGulf!

    Umm, ok, it has an AT&T logo on it. Whatever. The software is also full of AT&T only services. Who needs them anyway. Wait, I can only use certain hardware features if it's logged into AT&Ts servers? FLASH THAT ****. My choices? Two Canadian provider branded flashes with most of the same problems.

    So my point is: the problem isn't just the locking, it's the whole software.

  15. MachDiamond Silver badge

    Mind your budget

    If you are handing your teenagers $600 smartphones, that's your poor judgement. If they just "have" to have the latest model or "they'll just die of embarrassment" maybe it's time they got a job or start thinking of how behind they would be with no phone at all.

    Phones are a commodity item now. The factories that stamp out the iPhones and Galaxies are probably the same ones producing the off-brand stuff. I picked up a Blu Advance for $99 and it's given me good service for the last bunch of months. It also has dual sims that I use to have a personal and business line. Not going to get that with Samsung or Apple. I also have replaceable batteries (hello Apple!). At the end of the year I bet that I will be able to find another phone in the same price range with 2x the performance I have now and I can upgrade. I'll flog off the old phone if it's still alive and have an amortized capital outlay of $10-12/month instead of $60/month.

    I started off unlocked and contract free with the Blu. I can swap between AT$T and T-mobile or one of several service resellers and keep my phone number to boot. Right now I'm with Net10 for $50 month, unlimited everything (for a certain value of unlimited).

    I could get insurance, but it will likely be faster to just order up a replacement phone and pay for it myself rather than go through the hassle of dealing with the insurance provider. For me, time without the phone would be a bigger factor than spending the extra $10-$20 over what I would have paid into the insurance.

  16. Fuzz

    doesn't go far enough

    Law's like this should require the automatic unlocking of phones when the contract term is reached provided the account is up to date. The provider shouldn't be allowed to charge a fee for the unlock. If the provider incurs a cost for unlocking the phone they should build this into the contract cost.

  17. All names Taken
    Paris Hilton

    I thought that ...

    ... Never so many brave hearts were let down by so many overindulged bureaucrats as here in the UK but ... ?

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