Now Legal to Unlock Cell Phones

[jim2112]

The law was passed to make it legal to unlock cell phones. I don't know if it will matter with a Verizon phone since they were on CDMA, but our Note 3 is suppose to have multiple radio's. I would just like to be able to root the thing and get rid of some bloat apps and get administrative rights on a few apps that could do more if I had it, and be able to do regular updates while keeping my root.

Congress restores consumers' right to unlock phones

 

[ShaggyKids]

I LOVE this!

"All consumers, no matter where they live, work or travel, should have the ability to take the device of their choosing to the carrier that best meets their needs and desires,"said*the head of the group, Steven Berry.

 

[cnotes2019]

Where's the thrill? It's only for phones out of contract


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ShaggyKids]

There are a lot of people out of contract that can make use of this. It's the fact that you will now be free to do this what matters.

 

[jim2112]

Pay etf and you are out of contract. Phone companies subsidize the expensive phone and get it back in monthly payments. The problem has been when you are done with the contract they still want the phone only usable on their network. This changes that. I paid full price and am not under contract to keep unlimited data, but to those who want to take an expensive phone and use on a different carrier this is a good thing.

 

[ShaggyKids]

Exactly, jim2112. Isn't America supposed to be a place where people get to choose? I can't switch carriers but for those who can YAY!

 

[dpham00]

Unless I am reading it wrong, based on the article, the bill has passed Congress but hasn't been signed by the President. As such it is not law yet. If I am mistaken, please feel free to correct me.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

 

[dpham00]

The law was passed to make it legal to unlock cell phones. I don't know if it will matter with a Verizon phone since they were on CDMA, but our Note 3 is suppose to have multiple radio's. I would just like to be able to root the thing and get rid of some bloat apps and get administrative rights on a few apps that could do more if I had it, and be able to do regular updates while keeping my root.

Congress restores consumers' right to unlock phones

Just to clarify, the unlock they are talking about the sim lock, not the bootloader lock. The sim unlock won't help a locked bootloader.

Also most of Verizon's 4GLTE smartphones are factory sim unlocked, including the note 3. So this law won't benefit a Verizon note 3.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

 

[jpr]

The law was passed to make it legal to unlock cell phones. I don't know if it will matter with a Verizon phone since they were on CDMA, but our Note 3 is suppose to have multiple radio's. I would just like to be able to root the thing and get rid of some bloat apps and get administrative rights on a few apps that could do more if I had it, and be able to do regular updates while keeping my root.

Congress restores consumers' right to unlock phones

You seem to be confused about what this law is about. It has nothing whatsoever to do with rooting your phone.

Also, while I'm glad this is going to become law, it actually doesn't change anything that is current practice. The carriers all already agreed at the end of last year to voluntarily do this exact same thing. So this is already current practice for all US carriers.

Although it technically is not law yet until the president signs it, the President has already made a statement that he will sign it. So it's not a question of if it will become law, just an administrative matter of actually signing it. Because of what I said above about this already being current practice, it's not really important to any consumer what day it is actually signed since consumers can already take advantage of this without it being law right now,

 

[beh]

This bill when signed into law doesn't make SIM unlocking legal directly. Instead, what is does is direct the Library of Congres to reinstate the exemption for cell phones to the prohibitions of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act. These exemptions are reviewed every three years by the Library of Congress. They will be reviewed again in 1215. If the exemption for cell phones is not maintained at that time SIM unlocking will become illegal again.

 

[bertsirkin]

Also most of Verizon's 4GLTE smartphones are factory sim unlocked, including the note 3. So this law won't benefit a Verizon note 3.

Not sure why you think that - my understanding is that ALL Note 3 phones from Verizon (at least under contract) are unlocked. I've used mine outside the US with local SIM cards on multiple occasions with no problem.

 

[dpham00]

Not sure why you think that - my understanding is that ALL Note 3 phones from Verizon (at least under contract) are unlocked. I've used mine outside the US with local SIM cards on multiple occasions with no problem.

Correct. That is what I said. But the law won't help the Verizon Note 3 since it is already factory sim unlocked.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

 

[cnotes2019]

You seem to be confused about what this law is about. It has nothing whatsoever to do with rooting your phone.

Also, while I'm glad this is going to become law, it actually doesn't change anything that is current practice. The carriers all already agreed at the end of last year to voluntarily do this exact same thing. So this is already current practice for all US carriers.

Although it technically is not law yet until the president signs it, the President has already made a statement that he will sign it. So it's not a question of if it will become law, just an administrative matter of actually signing it. Because of what I said above about this already being current practice, it's not really important to any consumer what day it is actually signed since consumers can already take advantage of this without it being law right now,

Exactly.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AxlMyk]

Not sure why you think that - my understanding is that ALL Note 3 phones from Verizon (at least under contract) are unlocked. I've used mine outside the US with local SIM cards on multiple occasions with no problem.

Will a Verizon S3,4,or 5 work in Germany? A friend is going there in a couple months on vacation, and she has asked me about that. She is ready to jump to a smart phone, so that will help the decision on what she should get.

AC App on SGS3

 

[dpham00]

Will a Verizon S3,4,or 5 work in Germany? A friend is going there in a couple months on vacation, and she has asked me about that. She is ready to jump to a smart phone, so that will help the decision on what she should get.

AC App on SGS3

Yes. The s3 would need the latest update

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

 

[Barry Test]

If it is already sim unlocked, does that mean I can use it with another US carrier? Both contract and prepaid? I would like to try prepaid with ATTor Tmobile and see I get a better signal at my house.
THX

 

[jpr]

If it is already sim unlocked, does that mean I can use it with another US carrier? Both contract and prepaid? I would like to try prepaid with ATTor Tmobile and see I get a better signal at my house.
THX

As far as the phone is concerned yes. A particular carrier may not allow you to bring your own phone to a contract plan however. I know you can with Tmobile. You also may not have all bands required to get full service on a particular carrier. With TMO that will depend where you live, whether they are using bands not present in your Verizon phone.