Heads up.. You have 1 more day to unlock your iPhone ( or any other phone) legally

Quote from Chevyguy85 : Just get an android and unlock it for free. The page I read about this law stated it was for all phones not just apple devices. Somewhere in there however there was a disclaimer about this law being invalid if the owner of the device owns the software? As Android users don't we all technically own that software since it is open source?

I don't know of a way that is both free and very easy.....but I am very open to suggestion on that. I've never rooted a phone. I saw the thread about the S3 and the Note 2 unlocking, but people confirmed over and over that it didn't work for many other phones. I buy a lot of used phones and unlock them and resell them. I've been fine with paying four bucks to do it....but if there is an easy way to do it myself that takes about the same 2 minutes of time and doesn't risk bricking it, I'm down for it and happy to learn. I'm not so interested in potentially bricking the phone doing something I know nothing about . . . . .

Quote from fungo45 : Thanks, but the guy appears to be on vacation. Can't check out, and purchase was cancelled.

I just purchased two for the two phones I have. Everything went fine, provided IMEI and awaiting their confirmation/code email.

What most people don't understand is that this law is very limited and meaningless. It only codifies what is already illegal. The law makes it only illegal to unlock your phone if it is already under contract with a U.S. carrier. For example, if you buy an iPhone 5 with AT&T for $199 you must sign a 2 year contract. You can also buy one for $699 and not have to sign a contract. If you unlock a phone that is under contract, you are violating the terms of your contract, which is illegal. If you have a phone which is not under contract, including one that was subsidized and the 2 year agreement has expired, you may unlock your phone legally. The carrier (AT&T) will even unlock it for you for free if you are in good standing with them. In fact, even if you are under contract with them and you tell them you will be traveling abroad for a limited period of time, they will also unlock it for you for the period you are gone. There are also plenty of ways to unlock your phone on your own for free, but I won't get into that in this post. Just don't waste your money paying for something that is free.

The new statute just allows the government, if they find out, to arrest you and charge you a fine if they find out you have unlocked a phone that is currently under contract. The chances of them finding out, sending a police officer to knock on your door, take you to jail, and spend the attorney and court resources to charge you with this crime is pretty close to zero. It's about the same chances of them arresting you for recording a copyrighted movie on your DVR or downloading a song on the internet for free. Not going to happen.

Quote from 6grapes : Ya, it will make it a bit easier to sell, but is it really that big of a deal? Finding someone that will use the iPhone with AT&T is like...probably 40-50% of users/buyers? That's like saying....hey I'm gonna sell this used laptop, but you can only run windows on it...HOW WILL I EVER FIND A BUYER?!!?!?

Even assuming that your figure is correct, that means 50-60% of buyers CANNOT use your iPhone. How is that a good argument that this is no big deal?

Quote from Binar : By selling it you get more , way more If you want to switch carriers you can do it ( ex tmobile has very good plans for iPhone 5 users) If your phone is Verizon is unlocked already Looks like sprint will unlock it after 3 months, the real problem is AT&T If you travel outside the country you can use a local sim instead of paying insane amounts for international roaming

Quote from Akarin : unlock the iphone means you can use any carrier and internationally instead of being tied to specific carriers, and usually the carrier will unlock it when your contract expires. if your friend bought the iphone off contract, then it is already unlocked

Thanks for the informative replies!

My friend is on the AT&T network and got the phone on contract. Does unlocking it hurt her contract, phone, or anything else in any way? I just want to make sure it doesn't affect the warranty, her contract with AT&T, or anything else. Thanks!

I will continue to do whatever I want with my own property. I say we find the lawmaker responsible for this and demote him to janitor forever. What a corrupt POS.

So what should I use to unlock my iphones? I tried the ebay link in the first page for that item# but says the seller is on vacation :s

Quote from tphares : What most people don't understand is that this law is very limited and meaningless. It only codifies what is already illegal. The law makes it only illegal to unlock your phone if it is already under contract with a U.S. carrier. For example, if you buy an iPhone 5 with AT&T for $199 you must sign a 2 year contract. You can also buy one for $699 and not have to sign a contract. If you unlock a phone that is under contract, you are violating the terms of your contract, which is illegal. If you have a phone which is not under contract, including one that was subsidized and the 2 year agreement has expired, you may unlock your phone legally. The carrier (AT&T) will even unlock it for you for free if you are in good standing with them. In fact, even if you are under contract with them and you tell them you will be traveling abroad for a limited period of time, they will also unlock it for you for the period you are gone. There are also plenty of ways to unlock your phone on your own for free, but I won't get into that in this post. Just don't waste your money paying for something that is free. The new statute just allows the government, if they find out, to arrest you and charge you a fine if they find out you have unlocked a phone that is currently under contract. The chances of them finding out, sending a police officer to knock on your door, take you to jail, and spend the attorney and court resources to charge you with this crime is pretty close to zero. It's about the same chances of them arresting you for recording a copyrighted movie on your DVR or downloading a song on the internet for free. Not going to happen.

Why is it the government's business whatsoever? Why would they codify into criminal law what is a civil contract that already written by and for a major corporation and a powerless individual? What about this makes any sense?

http://news.msn.com/science-techn...g-saturday

Users will not be able to alter their cellphones to access different networks starting Saturday. But advocacy groups are questioning the law.

Starting Jan. 26, buying and unlocking a phone will no longer be legal in the United States.

The term "unlocking" a phone means to remove the security feature that prevents the phone being used on a different network. Once a phone is unlocked, it can work on more than one carrier's network. Unlocking phones is useful for those traveling internationally because it allows phones to work on different networks.

The Librarian of Congress, who determines any exemptions to a strict anti-hacking law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), decided in October 2012 that unlocking cellphones would no longer be allowed. A 90-day window was provided during which people could still buy phones and unlock them.

Currently Apple sells an unlocked iPhone 5 starting at $649 and Google sells Nexus 4 unlocked for $300.

Mashable reports that the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is questioning DMCA's right to determine who can unlock a phone.

EFF attorney Mitch Stoltz said in a letter to TechNewsDaily.com: "Arguably, locking phone users into one carrier is not at all what the DMCA was meant to do. It's up to the courts to decide."

meh before jailbreak was legalized, everyone still does it. I suspect the same with unlocking

That's total BS. It will still be legal to unlock your own phone.

Quote from The_Linux_Crew : That's total BS. It will still be legal to unlock your own phone.

Yeah, i agree with you, but the law from tomorrow is which already had 90-day window for the users states "The Librarian of Congress, who determines any exemptions to a strict anti-hacking law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), decided in October 2012 that unlocking cellphones would no longer be allowed. A 90-day window was provided during which people could still buy phones and unlock them."

How is this a "Deal" ...

Quote from JackD121 : How is this a "Deal" ...

if you can unlock your phone today, then you wont have any problems. Today is the last day