WTF! Unlocking Your Cell Phone is Now Illegal!!! (Sign the Petition - 4,000 Needed)

[grahamhgreen]

we petition the obama administration to:

Make Unlocking Cell Phones Legal.

The Librarian of Congress decided in October 2012 that unlocking of cell phones would be removed from the exceptions to the DMCA.

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.

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.

The Librarian noted that carriers are offering more unlocked phones at present, but the great majority of phones sold are still locked.

We ask that the White House ask the Librarian of Congress to rescind this decision, and failing that, champion a bill that makes unlocking permanently legal.

SIGN HERE: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/make-unlocking-cell-phones-legal/1g9KhZG7


Unlocking: this term mean the phone can be use for more than one SIM card.

[think]

1. signed it...

[NYC_SKP]

2. KR nt

[hedda_foil]

3. Signed it and shared it. k/r

[NYC_SKP]

5. Done. It's looking good:

Issues: Civil Rights and Liberties, Consumer Protections, Technology and Telecommunications

Created: Jan 24, 2013

Signatures needed by February 23, 2013 to reach goal of 100,000
51,666

Total signatures on this petition
48,334

[NightWatcher]

6. Not to be a downer, but has any WH petition accomplished anything?

Have any of them been taken into consideration or have they changed any laws?

[ChisolmTrailDem]

7. I've asked this before to a big goose egg. eom

[grahamhgreen]

8. Not sure but I think it helped with CISPA and SOPA.

[Egalitarian Thug]

9. That $600 iPhone you bought costs a Japanese person <$300, and that $120 p/mo

bill you are paying to play with it costs your Japanese counterpart about $25.

If we would just stop being so damned stupid our lives would be far better.

[grahamhgreen]

10. We are not stupid. They are criminal.

[HiPointDem]

11. it's weird, healthcare is that way too. monopoly power?

[polytien]

12. Petition: Make Unlocked Cell Phones Legal

If this illegal issue bothers you, and you want to have the option to be able to unlock a device you believe you paid for and own, then sign this official Petition and pass it along: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/make-unlocking-cell-phones-legal/1g9KhZG7

There's still time! 12 days left to get 100,000 minimum signatures.. At present, there is 60,000 sigs.. Please pass this petition link around to help make a difference!

[grahamhgreen]

14. WoooHoo! Welcome to DU! A locked phone is like a TV that only gets one channel.