The politicians in Washington DC are making noise about legalizing the act of unlocking a phone:
A U.S. senator has proposed a bill that will allow consumers to unlock cellphones for use in other networks, after the administration of President Barack Obama backed over 114,000 petitioners who asked the government to legalize the unlocking of smartphones.
“You bought it, you should be able to use it. My Wireless Device Independence Act ensures you can unlock your device,” said Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, in a Twitter message on Tuesday.
The proposed “Wireless Device Independence Act of 2013” aims to amend Section 1201(a)(1)(B) of title 17 of the United States Code which deals with circumvention of copyright protection systems.
What Senator Wyden’s Wireless Device Independence Act does is undo the damage caused by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which he apparently liked enough to not oppose the voice vote that passed the DMCA during his time in office. But now he’s going to be magnanimous and allow us lowly serfs to do with our property as we wish. If Wyden really wants to correct the root of the problem he should be working to repeal the DMCA in its entirety.