Cellphone unlocking petition gets over 100,000 supporters

Over 100, 000 disgruntled citizens affixed their signatures to show their frustration over a change in federal copyright policy that makes it illegal to unlock new cellphones. The petition was posted at the White House’s website.

Image Source: slate.com

After weighing in on the petition, the Executive Branch’s formal response was good news to the petitioners. A part of that response states: “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.”

Image Source: globalpost.com

The firestorm over this cellphone unlocking issue began in January 26, 2013, when the Librarian of Congress issued a ruling that made it illegal to unlock phones purchased after January 2013, that is, Congress did not renew an exemption in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that allows cellphone users to unlock their devices to give way to different network carriers.

With the legalization of cellphone unlocking having over 100,000 petitioners, it’s now Congress’ turn to address this problem so that it could countermand the unlocking ruling and eventually champion a bill that makes cellphone unlocking permanently legal.

Image Source: idownloadblog.com

Evan Granowitz of CA is one of the lawyers at Wolf Group LA who specializes in a wide array of legal areas. This Twitter page offers updates on law-related issues, including copyright laws.