The Most Ridiculous Law of 2013 (So Far): It Is Now a Crime to Unlock Your Smartphone

[Lone_Star_Dem]

29. This is only on those subsidized (cheap bundled in a contract) locked phones, though.

Usually, after a certain period of time when your commitment was met they'd give you a code to unlock those and you could switch to another carrier with your old phone. Not sure if they will anymore since this law basically doesn't cover that, and most people don't really read their contract to see if that's covered. If not it means that if you leave the carrier, even after your contract is up, you have to get another phone to use a different carrier.

What I'm not understanding, because from what I can tell it's not covered, is what happens if you buyout your contract? Can you then legally unlock the phone since you've met their requirements to change providers? Or are you just SOL for going for a cheap bundled phone in the first place?

This is going to make people look at phone "upgrades" from their carriers in a whole new light. You'd better make sure you're getting a contract that actually will meet your evolving needs for the next two years, because if you don't it may cost you a significant amount more to switch to a new carrier.