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It Will Soon Be Legal (Again) To Unlock Your Phone
Smithsonian Magazine ^
| 7-28-2014
| Colin Schultz
Posted on 07/28/2014 9:27:55 AM PDT by Citizen Zed
When you buy a car you're not beholden to the dealership for gas and service. Internet service providers don't control your laptop; the cable company can't stop a TV from playing Netflix; and Hamilton Beach can't stop the people who buy the company's waffle irons from making delicious, delicious pizza. Yet, up unti lnow, government regulations have allowed cell phone service providers to dictate how people can or cannot use their phones. But new legislation, just approved by Congress, is set to change that.
(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...
TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS:
A little bit of freedom for the helpless masses.
To: Citizen Zed
....up unti now, government regulations have allowed cell phone service providers to dictate how people can or cannot use their phones. But new legislation, just approved by Congress, is set to change that. LOL but we can't stop the NSA monitoring of the device!
2
posted on
07/28/2014 9:29:57 AM PDT
by
Alex Murphy
("the defacto Leader of the FR Calvinist Protestant Brigades")
To: Citizen Zed
A classic case of bad legislation to fix bad legislation. They should have simply repealed the act that made it illegal in the first place. This is not a one solution fits all problem. If you own your phone outright then the provider should have no say over whether you unlock it. If you bought it through a finance contract where you own the phone but the phone it pledged as collateral, then they still should have no say. If you bought the phone on a lease purchase plan where you have no equity until you make the last payment, then it's their phone and they can tell you not to unlock it, and repo it if you do. Finally, if you have a contract that says you won't connect to the provider's service with an unlocked phone, then they can legitimately disconnect you if they find you are violating the contract.
We have this terrible habit of criminalizing everything. This was all manageable through civil contract law.
3
posted on
07/28/2014 9:51:13 AM PDT
by
SeeSharp
To: Citizen Zed
pizza with a waffle iron?
4
posted on
07/28/2014 9:58:36 AM PDT
by
NonValueAdded
("Kerry, as Obama's plenipotentiary, is a paradox - the physical presence of a geopolitical absence")
To: NonValueAdded
yep, there’s a link in the article. What can we bake with a cellphone?
5
posted on
07/28/2014 10:01:14 AM PDT
by
NonValueAdded
("Kerry, as Obama's plenipotentiary, is a paradox - the physical presence of a geopolitical absence")
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