
Forget the Cellphone Fight — We Should Be Allowed to Unlock Everything We Own  - cramerica
http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/03/you-dont-own-your-cellphones-or-your-cars
======
uvdiv
_Meanwhile, progress is being made to legalize cellphone unlocking. With
grassroots groups leading the charge, the Obama administration announced its
support for overturning the ban last week._

I'm astonished that people overwhelmingly believe this falsehood. The White
House response _opposes_ legalized phone unlocking, except to phones already
out of contract. When they _say_ they "support unlocking", they have a
different interpretation of what that means:

 _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._

 _[...] neither criminal law nor technological locks should prevent consumers
from switching carriers when they are no longer bound by a service agreement
or other obligation._

[https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/make-unlocking-
cel...](https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/make-unlocking-cell-phones-
legal/1g9KhZG7)

A (very) few journalists are paying attention:

[http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/obama-s-stance-on-
unlock...](http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/obama-s-stance-on-unlocking-
cell-phones-comes-with-a-very-big-catch-20130304)

~~~
mseebach
> We Should Be Allowed to Unlock Everything We _Own_

You don't _own_ a subsidised cell phone until your contract is out.

~~~
Sanddancer
I don't "own" a car I buy on loan until I pay that off. That doesn't preclude
me from replacing seats, putting in a turbo, etc. Why should a phone be
different?

~~~
res0nat0r
You can do many of those things to your car, but some of them might nullify
your warranty.

~~~
Sanddancer
Yes, they may void the warranty. That's not the same as a federal crime.

------
grannyg00se
"...once we buy an object — any object — we should own it."

Sure, but a purchase often comes with restrictions that you agree to before
deciding on the purchase. If you don't agree to the restrictions you can avoid
the purchase altogether. I can buy a six hundred thousand dollar house and
still not have the right to put a garden gnome on my lawn if I bought in a
community with by-laws that prohibit that.

"Because manufacturers have copyrighted the service manuals, local mechanics
can’t fix modern equipment. And today’s equipment — packed with sensors and
electronics — is too complex to repair without them. That’s a problem for
farmers, who can’t afford to pay the dealer’s high maintenance fees for fickle
equipment."

So farmers are buying "fickle" equipment that is expensive to repair and the
blame is put on copyright abuse? Copyright is just the mechanism used to
enforce the business model. The equipment manufacturer made a business
decision and this is part of their business model by choice. Any other
manufacturer is free to supply equipment and compete on a different business
model. If the issue is really that significant to the market then farmers will
flock to the competition that provides manuals with their equipment.

~~~
unwind
Yeah, the article was over-simplifying a bit.

I doubt that Wired thinks I can buy a copy of their (print) magazine and then,
since _I own it_ , I can do whatever I want with it (like scanning it and
putting it online).

~~~
sinak
But Wired may think that you should be able to use what you've bought in a
non-copyright-infringing manner. For example, you might scan the magazine so
you can read it on your tablet. That's what's at stake here.

Btw, it's a Wired opinion piece, so it doesn't necessarily reflect Wired's own
thoughts on the matter.

------
Thiz
Vote with your wallet. Don't buy locked phones.

Once the consumers know the power they have in their hands, change will come
easier.

~~~
jdechko
I'm torn on the issue of buying locked vs unlocked. I have a family to
support, so I don't have $500 or more to spend on an unlocked iPhone. Even if
I had the money, I live in the US, and I haven't traveled outside of the
country in over 10 years. Finally, there is no monthly discount on service if
you bring an unlocked phone to a carrier, so that's the third strike. I'll
continue to buy a new locked device every couple of years and take the
subsidy, thanks. I'll also be having my 4S unlocked when this contract is up.

Having said that, I agree that it should be easier to unlock phones in the US,
even if it's just for international coverage (which would be something).

~~~
imgabe
Yes, there is a discount. You can buy an unlocked GSM phone and get a SIM only
plan that costs half as much as the regular plans. The total cost is cheaper
compared to how much you pay over a two year contract.

~~~
anonymoushn
Where do you buy this plan? AT&T and Verizon are willing to sell me plans that
cost just as much as on-contract plans. T-Mobile is willing to sell me much
cheaper plans, but randomly loses service all around my city all the time.

~~~
imgabe
I use one from Straight Talk, which just resells AT&T's service.

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650REDHAIR
Cellphone unlocking is a step in the right direction.

For this "movement" to work, long-term, we will need these small wins first.

~~~
anigbrowl
It's sad that this is at the bottom of the stack. Big victories are typically
built on a foundation of smaller victories, and the American legal system
tends to be an incrementalist one. The 'forget X, because we want X^Y!'
argument of the article is self-defeating.

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davidroberts
_Copyright laws were originally designed to protect creativity and promote
innovation. But now, they are doing exactly the opposite..._ This is a problem
with many laws. Even if unintended consequences don't ruin the effect from the
start, changes in the situation a law was meant to address will likely cause
problems in the end. And this is assuming the law actually passed with an
intention to benefit the whole, and not just some powerful subset of it. I
think laws should come with expiration dates.

------
001sky
One "owns" (free and clear) very little in real life. Most people -- house,
car, etc -- are financing their lives with debt. In these cases, ownership is
a bit of a myth -- your legal rights are only contingent on your credit. With
your data and your free speech-- also, this is very circumscribed in reality.
Soon, the idea of "ownership" will just be made fully synthetic. We will rent
the assets of our lives...just like our homes...wether this is good or
bad...or just another level of clarity...is in the eye of the beholder. This
will solve any debate on who "owns" a phone, or a piece of software...there
will just be no more "sales"...just "leases" of the same...without the
residual legal rights of true ownerhsip...nor the notion that denying such
rights will be anything less than what is otherwise suspected...

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jebblue
I'd like to know why Sony was allowed to turn off our ability to install other
OS'es on the PS3's we had _already_ bought. That's like if the dealership
showed up with a mechanic and said they changed their minds and want the
turbocharger back.

------
frankydp
Anyone tried to request the manual/technical documents for a UConnect so you
could flash your console and tinker with it?

Customer service told me tampering in any way would void the warranty on my
entire vehicle.........

Needless to say I they didn't send me a copy of the manual.

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npsimons
And this is precisely why GPLv3 was invented.

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uribs
Actually, companies should not be allowed to lock stuff in the first place.

Or more precisely, they should be able to lock stuff, but doing so should
automatically license all their copyrights, patents and trademarks used in the
thing they locked for everyone to use for free forever in any way without
limits.

If they are out to fuck the public in the ass, there's no reason the public's
courts and police should assist or protect them.

------
tiglionabbit
I'm not sure exactly what people are asking for here. There's a lot of
complexity in the phone network implementations out there (scroll to the
bottom of this page to get an idea of what's out there:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolved_HSPA> )

I've owned a few unlocked phones and found that switching networks is largely
useless as my phone is unlikely to support the best data features from another
provider.

