Unlocking cellphones without carrier permission will be illegal come Saturday

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Comments

  • Reply 61 of 97
    nasseraenasserae Posts: 3,167member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Perhaps there were some issues with your account? I have unlocked two post-contract iPhones with ATT, and in both instances, it took less than a few hours after my request, before ATT said 'yes'.



     


    If you fill out the online form at AT&T website it will take up to 2 weeks. If you call it take will less than 24 hours.

  • Reply 62 of 97

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Cash907 View Post


     


    Hardly. Everyone who jailbreaks does so with the knowledge they are circumventing Apple's wishes, and I've never met personally, nor read comments from in any forums, a jailbreaker who blamed Apple for any glitches encountered after the jailbreak.



     


    Some (many? I have no data, purely anecdotes) with jailbroken don't know they've got hacked phones, or don't really understand or appreciate any of the risks or know how to deal with them.


     


    Some are done by friends being 'helpful' ("You'll be able to install apps for free" or "Hey, let me set that up for you like mine."), and others by the local 'phone-shop' in order for them to be unlocked to use them on another network (especially second-hand/hand-me-downs). [There's a further category I'm aware of, of iPhone users on non-official networks. Turns out there's a few settings that you just can't override, or set easily, if you're not on a network that officially sells the phone: some are 'trivial' things like what number the Voicemail dials, and of course we all know about enabling tethering. They advice such users get from others, who probably don't understand the risks either, is "Just jailbreak it. It's really easy!"]


     


    There was a big problem a few years back in NL (also in Australia?), where there were a lot of jailbroken iPhones (they weren't yet being sold there officially) with SSH access enabled and default root passwords: a worm was able to spread itself around within KPN's mobile network to those phones. Now, even if the owners knew that it was "jail broken" (and knew what that meant) clearly many didn't have enough technical ability to even protect the phone in that state because they were left wide open.


     


    But.. I do think carriers should just let phones be carrier-unlocked if you are "in good standing" with your account payments. The mechanism, at least for the iPhone, is really easy when followed officially. The carrier sends the ok to Apple, you just plug it, and iTunes tells you it's unlocked. (Why not just leave them unlocked to start with? Because the carrier has fronted the money for the phone, and wants to make sure they at least get a contract attached to it.)

  • Reply 63 of 97
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    Yes, and those 'certain' ones are all phones sold after the date.

    Any phone bought prior to that date can be legally unlocked by YOU, the owner.

    And you know this how?
  • Reply 64 of 97
    kdarlingkdarling Posts: 1,640member


    IIRC, pre-iPhone, US carriers would usually unlock a GSM phone after your contract was up, or even right away if you were a customer in good standing with them.


     


    Then Apple came in.  Their original revenue scheme, used for the first year, was to profit on each phone sale, plus take a cut of the monthly bill (in effect, taking the user's monthly subsidy stipend).   AT&T didn't care... it was the same amount either way to them.


     


    The only trouble was, if the phone wasn't on AT&T, then Apple didn't get that monthly contract kickback.


     


    At first, Jobs seemed secretly delighted with jailbreakers.  Their interest meant the iPhone was a hit.   He would mention jailbreaking with pride and a little smile.


     


    Then Apple's revenue stream started to be affected by a lot of unlocked phones being used on carriers other than AT&T, especially devices resold overseas  By some counts, it was as much as 20% of all iPhones.    You could see the change almost overnight in Jobs' attitude towards jailbreaking.   Suddenly, it was not fun anymore.  Jailbreaking became evil in his eyes, and Apple has fought against it ever since.


     


    It also led to Apple dumping the monthly scheme, and going with the usual upfront subsidy model, starting with the 3G.

  • Reply 65 of 97


    Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post

    And you know this how?


     


    Because it says so in just about every article about this change in the law. AI decided to omit that, which is why I asked for confirmation earlier. I just went ahead and found it.

  • Reply 66 of 97


    In Mexico things are moving the other way around. Sort of. Carriers are now required to inform buyers if their device is locked. If it is, they must provide a way to unlock it without incurring in additional fees to the customer... IF the customer pays the full price for the device (not subsidized) or if the customer completes the mandatory term for his/her wireless bill plan, therefore rendering the device 'paid for'.

  • Reply 67 of 97
    ipenipen Posts: 410member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by lightknight View Post




    The question is "if you buy an off-the-shelf-model-from-apple", can you get a subscription with those 450$ off, or do you get ripped off?


    If you can't, this should be stricked down, because ti's not designed to protect a business model, it's designed to protect an immoral market lockdown.



    Depends on where you go to get service.  The place I went give you $1000 back (as monthly bill discounts) if you bring your own phone and sign a 2yr contract.

  • Reply 68 of 97
    This is just another way to stop hacking your devices which I think is illegal by now.
  • Reply 69 of 97


    Originally Posted by Curtis Hannah View Post

    This is just another way to stop hacking your devices which I think is illegal by now.




















     

    Jailbreaking

    Unlocking

    Smartphones

    Legal

    Illegal for all future phones

    Tablets

    Illegal

    Has always been illegal
  • Reply 70 of 97
    rezwitsrezwits Posts: 878member
    I am confused still to this. I had an old iPhone 3G, friend took it after my 2 year contract, put a new sim in, and the phone worked. Had an iPhone 4 then after 2 years, took out the sim and sold it on eBay, and they used the phone without any "Unlocking" for either...
  • Reply 71 of 97


    Originally Posted by rezwits View Post

    I had an old iPhone 3G, friend took it after my 2 year contract, put a new sim in, and the phone worked.


     


    He unlocked it, or you bought it unlocked by buying it from a non-US country.






    Had an iPhone 4 then after 2 years, took out the sim and sold it on eBay, and they used the phone without any "Unlocking" for either...



     


    You bought it unlocked by buying it from a non-US country, or they unlocked it.

  • Reply 72 of 97
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    hodar wrote: »
    When you buy your phone from carrier 'x' for $199 (or free) - the carrier is counting on you to fulfill your end of the contract. Once you have fulfilled your end of the contract - the carrier will (upon request) unlock your phone. I did this with my iPhone 4 and AT&T. The process took about 2 weeks to complete (for reasons I can't begin to fathom) - but, the process did UNLOCK my AT&T iPhone.

    That's standard AT&T policy. They will unlock a phone after the contract expires at your request. 2 weeks is pretty long (mine took 2 days) and you're right that it shouldn't take that long, but at least they do it (and I think other US carriers will do it on request, too).

    The issue is whether they should HAVE to do it. Or whether they should lower the monthly bill after recovering the full subsidy.
    hodar wrote: »
    All the phone companies are requesting, is that they be allowed to get the payments that they are CONTRACTUALLY entitled to. If you don't want the contract, then don't buy your phone under the reduced price that goes along with a contract.

    That's a red herring raised by the phone companies. You sign a contract saying that you agree to pay $xxx per month when you buy a subsidized phone. That contract would be enforceable whether you unlock the phone or not.

    In fact, if you unlock the phone and give it away, it would be even better for the phone company since they could still legally collect your monthly bill, but would no longer incur the expense of supporting your handset. If the new owner also uses the same carrier, then they'd be collecting twice the revenue for that handset.
  • Reply 73 of 97
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    auxio wrote: »
    Honestly, I doubt anyone is going to go after someone who personally SIM unlocks their phone (using online tools and whatnot).  Similar to how it's very rare for someone who pirates movies/software/TV shows for personal use to be prosecuted.  The idea is to go after the large scale (profitable) side of it, which is typically a division of organized crime.

    I doubt that too. I believe only hardware hacking the IMEI is illegal. (up to 15 years of jail time, or something bazurk like that)
  • Reply 74 of 97
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    philboogie wrote: »
    I doubt that too. I believe only hardware hacking the IMEI is illegal. (up to 15 years of jail time, or something bazurk like that)

    That 15 years was probably reserved for the rampant phone cloners way back when.
  • Reply 75 of 97
    sensisensi Posts: 346member
    In France carriers are requested to unlock your phone after six months, free of charge.
    jragosta wrote: »
    I pay $45 per month for unlimited texts, unlimited voice, and unlimited data.

    Bragging time. I pay 19.99 euro/m (<$27/m) for unlimited calls (incl. international calls over 41 countries), text and data (latter throttled down a bit after 3Gb/m). :P
  • Reply 76 of 97
    "We have the best government money can buy."
    - Mark Twain

    The rich require an abundant supply of the poor.
    - Voltaire

    these two go hand in hand!
  • Reply 77 of 97


    If you terminate your contract early and pay the ETF, the carrier can still require return of the phone. I understood this when I was trying to get an iPhone cheap. Sign up with AT&T and after a couple of months cancel the service and pay the $350 ETF, but they will ask for the phone back. So this is not a way to get an iPhone for $350. Wish it was.

  • Reply 78 of 97


    I use an AT&T iPhone that is not unlocked. I have never done business with AT&T. I use a different provider. If people are willing to look there are ways to legally use an iPhone and not spend a ton of money or be locked into contracts for the privilege.

  • Reply 79 of 97


    Originally Posted by kent909 View Post

    If you terminate your contract early and pay the ETF, the carrier can still require return of the phone.


     


    Only within the first month.

  • Reply 80 of 97


    If that is true then everyone beware of AT&T agents lying to you. I was told I would have to return the phone.

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