On January 26 the US librarian of
Congress made it illegal to unlock new
mobile phones without permission from
the carrier but just this week the White
House came out in support of consumers
responding that consumers should be able
to unlock their phones without risking
criminal or other penalties and of
course we agree I'm MJ with iFixit and
today we're talking a bit about cell
phone unlocking and what you can do to
support free and open hardware
initiatives when you buy a new phone
here in the US it almost always comes
locked to the carrier you bought it from
AT&T Verizon Sprint etc prior to January
26th you could lawfully unlock your
phone and take it overseas or switch
carriers altogether since that January
26th decision people who unlock their
phones without notifying their carrier
face crazy fines up to $500,000 and
criminal penalties of up to five years
in jail it's completely draconian and
not at all in the best interest of
consumers to illustrate this in a very
personal level I unlock my iPhone 4 back
in November because I knew it would
fetch a greater resale price if it
wasn't locked to AT&T s Network a couple
months later my unlocking my phone could
be considered a criminal offense this is
a law that limits your freedom and if
you know anything about us here at
iFixit we are absolutely not cool with
that fortunately the White House is
looking to rectify the situation
they just responded to a petition signed
by over a hundred thousand people saying
neither criminal law nor technological
lock should prevent consumers from
switching carriers when they are no
longer bound by a service agreement or
other obligation so now it's up to
Congress it's on them to make cell phone
unlocking legal again the telecom Lobby
is strong but just like that petition
influenced the White House to make a
statement we will beat them if each of
us chooses to make our voice heard tell
your member of Congress to introduce and
pass legislation that legalizes cell
phone Oh mocking it's as easy as filling
out this handy web form at Free Press
net there's a link to it down in the
description for easy access as of now
the future of unlocking is undecided but
if we can band together and lobby on our
own behalf as consumers we can make
change and that momentum will carry
forward the next big battle over digital
copyright might very well be over
increasing consumer rights to the
intellectual property needed to use an
their devices and when that happens we
hear it I fix it will continue to lead
the charge so take three seconds right
now to contact your member of Congress
using the web forum linked below and
when you're done share this video on
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the idea as consumers we need to demand
our freedom and that means empowering as
many people as possible to use their
voice collectively our influence can
make change and if you want to connect
with us further you can tweet us at I
fix it find us on facebook at
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to our youtube channel thanks for
watching and contact your congressperson