You may soon be able to own your phone free of carrier restraints if a bill to legalize phone unlocking passes in the Senate.
Approved by the House last week, the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) would neutralize a section in an earlier copyright protection act that managed to sweep mobile phones along with it, Yahoo Tech reported.
"Requiring an act of Congress to use things you've paid for as if they are actually your property is maddening. It's also tech policy as usual," Yahoo Tech's Rob Pegoraro said.
Lawmakers will have to counteract the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which "made it a crime to circumvent 'a technological measure that effectively controls access' to a copyrighted work," according to Yahoo Tech.
The act managed to cover mobile phones, protecting carriers and making it difficult for users to switch to a different provider.
Phone unlocking was possible from 2006 to 2012 when Librarian James H. Billington allowed it based on a provision clause in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
The next stage of the fight to unlock phones was a petition started by Sina Khanifar and Derek Khanna, which was filed on the White House's site and received more than 114,000 signatures.
"The White House agrees with the 114,000+ of you who believe that consumers should be able to unlock their cell phones without risking criminal or other penalties," senior adviser R. David Edelman wrote, as reported by Yahoo Tech.
The petition notes that due to the Library of Congress' decision to remove phone unlocking from the provision, users will have to pay high fees to use their phones on other networks.
"As of January 26, consumers will no longer be able unlock their phones for use on a different network without carrier permission, even after their contract has expired," the petition said.
"Consumers will be forced to pay exorbitant roaming fees to make calls while traveling abroad. It reduces consumer choice, and decreases the resale value of devices that consumers have paid for in full."
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