Copyright Office rules that consumers can legally unlock cellphones
Looking for a reason to be thankful today (besides the fact that Engadget writers snubbed their families in order to toil through the holiday and bring you your daily dose of gadget news)? Well look no further than Librarian of Congress and copyright czar James H. Billington, who has bequeathed a wonderful gift upon millions of cellphone users by granting an exemption wherein consumers may legally break the software locks on their handsets in order to transfer service to another carrier. That's right, starting on Monday you'll be able to say screw you to Cingular or ta ta to T-Mobile and keep rocking your precious RAZR even after you've jumped ship and signed up with a new provider. The exemption is one of a record six granted by the Copyright Office on Wednesday, and was announced so unexpectedly, that even the EFF's Fred von Lohmann admitted that he was "surprised and pleased" by the development. So go forth, friends, and use this new info to either make the switch or squeeze a better deal out of your current provider -- just remember, no matter how hard you try, you're just not gonna be able to get that unlocked GSM phone to play nice with Sprint or Verizon.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Filed under: Handsets
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
semuta @ Nov 23rd 2006 11:57PM
Great, but what does this get us? Doesn't it just mean that all the many services that offer unlock software/codes are doing it completely legally now? It's no more available to consumer than it was before (though certain carriers like T-Mobile apparently have always given the unlock codes to their customers if in good standing).
CMP @ Nov 24th 2006 6:14AM
It is about time that we could unlock our mobile phones legally, this is a good step forward for mobiles and us users...about time as there are so many reasons why we would want to unlock our phones.
LG @ Nov 24th 2006 8:21AM
It's a good and monumental first step. The fight, however, is not finished until customers of CDMA carriers (Verizon, Sprint etc.) have the right to have ANY compatible CDMA phone activated on their wireless providers system.
Aaron @ Nov 24th 2006 8:43AM
In the UK, it's mandated in law that a carrier must unlock a phone for a user in return for a small administration fee (usually around $30).
Unlocking phones through other means is legal too, but most of these methods are illegal (i.e. using pirated software) and usually void the warranty.
IMEI changes and unblocking phones is still a criminal offense though.
Nice to see that the US is catching up. :)
Ry @ Nov 24th 2006 11:01AM
Let's hope this changes things on the CDMA side..
christel @ Nov 24th 2006 1:55PM
just keep in mind that even though you can use your Cingular RAZR to make calls with your T-Mobile service, the internet settings will also need to be reset. each carrier has their own settings and i have seen Cingular customers come in with their T-Mobile phones and are unable to access the internet. the settings are usually available online.
Jason @ Nov 27th 2006 10:00AM
there is still the problem with using data services (like a t-mobile phone with cingular's media net)
Jeremy Boehm @ Dec 2nd 2006 2:18PM
With T-Mobile you can call customer service and they will flash any phone with TZones so you can use there internet. Cingular is not so nice. However I have the software to unlock CDMA phones for use on any CDMA carrier I wonder now that this law has passed wether Sprint/Verizon will actually allow us to use those phones. That is the real trick they only use the ESN's in there database.
Claire @ Oct 2nd 2007 3:39PM
I have a Cingular Razor whose 2 year contract has run out.
How do I unlock it?
My son has a Nextel in Iraq that needs unlocking. Any suggestions?
Courtney @ Jan 12th 2007 7:37PM
I need to get the unlock code to a verizon lg vx3200 phone.
Courtney @ Jan 15th 2007 9:48AM
I was just giving lg vx3200 phone and i need the unlock code so that i can change it over to the cricket network does anyone know the unlock code?
Blackberry @ Feb 7th 2007 1:03PM
i think i might have bought a stolen verizon blackberry 8703e on ebay. i tried to activate it, even went through 3 technical support people, and at the end they said it might be stolen.
question is it worth trying to unlock it? i'm trying to return it to the seller but we'll see what happens..
randih @ May 9th 2008 12:16AM
i am trying to do th exact same thing, i bought a blackberry off ebay and they said it was either stolen or the previous owner did not pay thier bills, where can i unlock it?