From January 26 SIM unlocking went into illegal work in the US due to the activation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). In order to ask Government about Unlocking, Sina Khanifar initiated a petition on Which gained about 100,000+ signatures.
So finally White House has responded to the petition in favor SIM Unlocking which received the support of more than 114,000 people. Now response from officials states that if you have paid for your mobile phone (paid all dues aka service agreement ended) than you should be able to use it on another network. R. David Edelman, senior advisor for Internet, Innovation & Privacy, official words:
The White House agrees with the 114,000+ of you who believe that consumers should be able to unlock their cell phones without risking criminal or other penalties. In fact, we believe the same principle should also apply to tablets, which are increasingly similar to smart phones. And if you have paid for your mobile device, and aren’t bound by a service agreement or other obligation, you should be able to use it on another network. It’s common sense, crucial for protecting consumer choice, and important for ensuring we continue to have the vibrant, competitive wireless market that delivers innovative products and solid service to meet consumers’ needs.
This is particularly important for secondhand or other mobile devices that you might buy or receive as a gift, and want to activate on the wireless network that meets your needs — even if it isn’t the one on which the device was first activated. All consumers deserve that flexibility.
As stated above they would provide some legislastive fixes to this and not only Mobile devices, even tablets needs to follow the same rule.
In another response FCC chairman Julius Genachowski also showed support by saying, “From a communications policy perspective, this raises serious competition and innovation concerns, and for wireless consumers, it doesn’t pass the common sense test. The FCC is examining this issue, looking into whether the agency, wireless providers, or others should take action to preserve consumers’ ability to unlock their mobile phones. I also encourage Congress to take a close look and consider a legislative solution.”
Now need to watch what they do aka what officials do officially.
Sources: Whitehouse, FCC
