There is a difference between being able to unlock the cell phone to use with a different carrier then jailbreaking or rooting your phone subtard.

If it's "under contract" what difference does it make if I unlock it to use with another carrier? I still have to pay for my contract right?

What's the issue here?

According to our favorite site Consumerist, this only applies to phones purchased after that date, not phones you already own.

FTA: So what that all means is that, if you have a cellphone right now, you can still unlock it at your leisure and not be breaking the law.

Link

Ownership has always been a myth.

There's no way to get rid of or at least block all that bloatware on my phone, is there. I would root but I just know I'll be in that small percent that bricks their phone. That crap is sucking way too much battery life.

i'm so glad we let corporations write our laws...that was such a wonderful idea.

Weaver95: i'm so glad we let corporations write our laws...that was such a wonderful idea.

Corporations are people, my friend.

There's a difference between "You have one week before this is illegal", and "This becomes illegal next week".

That's some fine reading comprehension there, submittard.

I'm perfectly happy with my DumbPhone.

doyner: Weaver95: i'm so glad we let corporations write our laws...that was such a wonderful idea.

Corporations are people, my friend.

Cant we execute a few, just to prove that point?

Imagine if cars were done that way. There would never have been a custom car ever.

Weaver95: i'm so glad we let corporations write our laws...that was such a wonderful idea.

I doubt the Librarian of Congress has a lobbyist

Or, you know, you could just get an Android device and not have to worry about jailbreaking...

alwaysjaded: There's no way to get rid of or at least block all that bloatware on my phone, is there. I would root but I just know I'll be in that small percent that bricks their phone. That crap is sucking way too much battery life.

In the UK you can buy a phone from Carphone Warehouse. They're a huge phone retailer and all their stock is unbranded so they can sell you a phone on any network. I even upgraded my phone in there and got a nice new, factory fresh, HTC with no network bloat and not locked to any network. As a bonus for Android you get the software updates far quicker as well because you get the stock factory update without having to wait for the network to come up with one.

But even a locked phone can still be legally unlocked easily, with or without your networks okay.

bhcompy: fusillade762: Weaver95: i'm so glad we let corporations write our laws...that was such a wonderful idea.

Ugh, no shiat. This BS is illegal in Europe, iirc.

In Europe you generally buy the phone outright, so it is unlocked. This is the case in the US if you buy the phone outright, as well. This is in regards to getting a subsidized phone from a carrier.

I'd say most smartphones sold in the UK are on contract. Most free on standard tariffs. But that's purely anecdotal, I don't know the figures.

When Cyanogenmod is outlawed, only outlaws will have Cyanogenmod.

Someone needs to test the law and provoke a prosecution.

That could be a very, very entertaining jury trial.

Stupid laws have to be provoked.

Are you sure you meant DCMA subby, not CDMA?

gingerjet: RoyFokker'sGhost: Or, you know, you could just get an Android device and not have to worry about jailbreaking...

Wait - Android device owners don't jailbreak their phones?  I thought it was the only way to make an Android phone usable?

Rooted mine about three hours after I got it.  Only way to install Wireless Tether without paying Sprint's outrageous fee for the service.  Also the only way to remove the NFL bloatware and all that other crapola.

gingerjet: RoyFokker'sGhost: Or, you know, you could just get an Android device and not have to worry about jailbreaking...

Wait - Android device owners don't jailbreak their phones?  I thought it was the only way to make an Android phone usable?

Jailbreaking on Android is very different than jailbreaking on iOS. Speaking from my own experience, I have an Android phone (HTC) and an Android tablet (Transformer), and I've never had a problem with taking off anything factory installed that I don't want; like the digital copy of 'Green Hornet' that came pre-installed on my phone. You hook it up directly via USB to your computer and mount it as a removable drive. No farking around with iTunes. If I'm goign to a game convention, I can put PDFs of the game books on my tablet directly. I swap out the music on my phone directly. The only need to jailbreak an Android phone is to install custom apps that aren't in the Google Play store, and I haven't found an app I've wanted to install that isn't there.

Now, the downside, for the paranoid, is that it's all extremely interconnected with Google. You're hooked up with your Gmail and Amazon accounts, but you can still use other email services and online stores; there's just direct links already installed for Google's stuff. The big advantage, though, is that I can make changes on one device and it gets updated on the other device.

Bottom line, Google treats you like a rational, reasonable adult.

traylor: /happily using one of these for calling people and receiving calls for the last 11 years

Those are just fine for making calls.

I don't make calls 99% of the time. I think I was on the phone for 20 minutes last month.

Is January 26 a week from now, submitter? Are you from the past?

Bisu: RoyFokker'sGhost:
Bottom line, Google treats you like a rational, reasonable adult.

It'd be nice if they did that with their search engine. Right now they give me 3 results (out of 8 million) for the search terms I entered, and then list 8 suggested searches with the first result of each. I love having to go to page 2 for results 4 through 100.

Is it really that hard to click "next page" to get your Mexican Clown Bukkake fix?

Supes: RoyFokker'sGhost: Bottom line, Google treats you like a rational, reasonable adult.

Which has absolutely nothing to do with any of this. It's the wireless carriers, not Google, trying to tie the phones down. The rooting/jailbreaking distinction is irrelevant. Anything that can permit you to unlock your phone will be illegal without carrier permission.

We're not talking about OS freedom/flexibility, we're talking about network freedom/flexibility.

Which, if you want the flexibility, buy the phone by itself, outside of the carrier, then choose a carrier to sign up with. The only caveat is that you're paying full price for the phone, rather than the subsidized price that a carrier offers.

Flint Ironstag: alwaysjaded: There's no way to get rid of or at least block all that bloatware on my phone, is there. I would root but I just know I'll be in that small percent that bricks their phone. That crap is sucking way too much battery life.

In the UK you can buy a phone from Carphone Warehouse. They're a huge phone retailer and all their stock is unbranded so they can sell you a phone on any network. I even upgraded my phone in there and got a nice new, factory fresh, HTC with no network bloat and not locked to any network. As a bonus for Android you get the software updates far quicker as well because you get the stock factory update without having to wait for the network to come up with one.

But even a locked phone can still be legally unlocked easily, with or without your networks okay.

I'll try to do something like that when my contract runs out. I have a Galaxy S2 with T-Mobile and everything is tied in with their worthless software. *sigh*

jtown: impaler: If it's "under contract" what difference does it make if I unlock it to use with another carrier? I still have to pay for my contract right?

What's the issue here?

ETF = $350
2 year contract = $1250-3750

There's your issue. The carrier doesn't really want the ETF. They're not in the business of selling phones. They're in the business of selling service. They want your $50-150 per line per month for the service for the full length of their contract.

This.

MrEricSir: Or you could buy a phone that's already unlocked at avoid any of this.

I'm not sure I can justify $500 for a PHONE when I can buy a laptop for nearly the same price and have a lot more functionality.