Live in America? Looking to unlock your smartphone, but unsure whether it is entirely legal. Well, luckily the US House of Representatives has weighed in with new legislation that clears things up – a bit.
A bill entitled the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition act was just passed by the House that aims to allow users to unlock devices for use on a new carrier after their subsidised contract expires.
However, there’s a frustrating caveat. A last minute change to the bill excludes ‘bulk unlocking’, which means that the change will not apply to companies that purchase, unlock and resell devices to consumers.
Advocates of the change claim it won’t prevent the bulk sale of locked or previously unlocked phones – and it passed with a strong majority – but the change was significant enough to dissuade several previously supportive representatives from voting for the bill.
“There needs to be a market in unlocked phones,” Democratic Representative Jared Polis said, describing the late change as a “poison pill” for consumer advocates.
For now, we can only hope that the House continues to tweak the bill to fit consumer needs.
Source: Engadget
