In October 2012 the Library of Congress’s Copyright Office made a decision which gave consumers 90 days to unlock their handsets without carrier permission, and in January cellphone unlocking became illegal. This was followed by a petition to the White House which got over 114,000 signatures and the response also came. Now, a bill has been proposed by a US senator to legalize phone unlocking for using it on other networks.

Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said via Twitter, “You bought it, you should be able to use it. My Wireless Device Independence Act ensures you can unlock your device“. The proposed bill is for amending Section 1201(a)(1)(B) of title 17 of the United States Code which deals with circumvention of copyright protection systems.

And more responses have come in:

Rep. Anna Eshoo, a California Democrat: “The ban on unlocking cell phones puts consumers in the back seat when it comes to choosing the mobile device and service that best suits them. Competition and consumer choice are equally fundamental to a vibrant mobile marketplace, which is why I intend to introduce legislation eliminating the ban on unlocking cell phones and other mobile devices“.

Sen. Patrick Leahy: “I agree with the Administration that consumers should have the flexibility to use their devices on any network they choose, provided they comply with the terms of service. I intend to work in a bipartisan, bicameral fashion to restore users’ ability to unlock their phones and provide them with the choice and freedom that we have all come to expect in the digital era“.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz: “You own the phone, you should be able to unlock it“.

FCC: “The FCC is examining this issue, looking into whether the agency, wireless providers, or others should take action to preserve consumers’ ability to unlock their mobile phones. I also encourage Congress to take a close look and consider a legislative solution“.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

[Source]

The post Bill Proposed To Legalize Cell Phone Unlocking in the United States appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Motorola was not the first and it probably won’t be the last company that struggles with their customers over the issue. What seems to making users particularly angry with Motorola is that in early 2011 Motorola had promised to unlock the bootloaders of its smartphones and while it did unlock a few, a majority of Motorola phones remain locked.

The usual reasoning behind decisions for locking bootloaders from many manufacturers and carriers don’t really hold water in the eyes of customers. They want more freedom in trying alternative firmware for their phones; the respect and protection of DRM for the content saved on these phones has generally nothing to do with the decision to lock a bootloader on a given device, or just leaving it unlocked all together from the beginning. Many exploits on devices aimed at gaining root access to them are successful for both locked and unlocked bootloaders. Then, root access to the file system of a given device makes any protection scheme very questionable.

The Android community has a history of fighting against locked bootloaders in many phones from different manufacturers and carriers. The latest outcry originates in XDA-Developers community for the Motorola Droid RAZR. It was named ‘Movement of #OPMOSH (Operation: Make Ourselves Heard)’, and it has turned in to a rather heated discussion here.

We informed you already that ASUS will be unlocking the bootloader on its Transformer Prime with a special, proprietary unlocking tool of their own. This approach looks like an attempt of good compromise. While this step from ASUS is squarely directed at pleasing their customers, it might be not considered as a good precedent to influence Motorola decisions about their bootloader. Or HTC decisions. Or Acer’s decisions.

The post Motorola RAZR Owners Upset, Wanting Unlock appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

XDA-Developers have released their HTC Super Tool, a Windows-based utility that universal roots and unlocks the bootloader of many HTC smartphones. This third-party tool has surpassed even HTC’s bootloader unlocking tool, which is limited to just a few devices. Devices for which this tool has been reported working for include the Evo Design 4G, Evo 4G, Evo 3D, Evo Shift, G2, MT3Gs, MT4G, MT4Gs, Inspire, Sensation, Incredible, Wildfire S, and the Amaze 4G.

In this universality, the HTC Super Tool surpasses HTS’s own unlocking utility that works only on several HTC models.

List of HTC devices that can be rooted and unlocked by the HTC Super Tool is made up out of the phones, for which the success was confirmed. That is, if your HTC phone model is not found as currently listed, chances are Super Tool may work just fine for it, too. For those who follow the HTC Super Tool development, its version history looks like this:

For v2

Added Unroot option

For v1.5

Updated zergRush exploit!
Updated SU files
Cleaned up script
moved market update to it’s own option.

NEW TOOL v1.0

Changes in SS

For v2.1

Minor fix from root and reboot triggers

For v2

De Sense works (Disables HTC Sense for a more vanilla android/keeps the Sense lockscreen though
Re Sense works (Re-Enables HTC Sense)
Virtous OC daemon (I ported to Design to Overclock to 1.4 ghz on stock kernel)
Fixed Wifi Tether again thanks to psyv01 at XDA
Cleaned the script a little bit

For v1.5
removed market updater option (Now updates market via root option
s-off is still just a placeholder (sorry guys)
De Sense option added (Freezes all HTC Sense apps to make a more vanilla android feel – Will be functioning on v2)
Re Sense option added (Want it back? here you go – Will function on v2)
reboot option added (No longer reboots after root option. remember to use this before exiting script)
wireless tether app updated (hopefully fixes the issues some people were having)

HTC Super Tool is quite a complex utility, so even if it looks simple to click here and there, errors and mistakes may happen, and usual disclaimers apply.

The post HTC Super Tool Roots And Unlocks Most HTC Devices appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

But doesn’t this just seem too good to be true? The phone companies are finally doing something that will benefit the consumer. That is, because it is a little too good to be totally true. Yes Rogers and Fido will unlock your phone, and yes it will cost you a minimal fee of $50, but there are still a few conditions that current contract holders may not appreciate, a requirement to be able to have your device unlocked is: Your account must be in good standing and you “Have paid the un-subsidized/no term cost for the device at least 30 days prior or have finished their Commitment Period. Which pretty much means they want you to buy the phone out right before they ask you to pay another $50 to unlock it. The small print has managed to spoil the good news for everyone, but we can’t blame them, they’re still taking baby steps. Anyway, you can always just ask the guy down the block who is more than willing to unlock your phone for $20, or check eBay for a $2 unlock code.

“I’m calling on Telus and Bell to catch up with their competition – and the rest of the world.” said New Democrat Consumer Protection Critic Glenn Thibeault. “They need to start unlocking the full range of their customer’s handsets, including iPhones. And they need to do this without barriers. Whereas our legislation mandates carriers unlock their customer’s phones for free outside of contracts, Rogers is only offering to unlock for a $50 fee. That’s a lot to pay for full use of hardware that their customers already own.”

[Net News Ledger]

The post Rogers and Fido will “unlock” your phone for $50 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.