Unlocking phones bought second hand, still illegal?

[katamari201]

Officially in 2013 it is illegal to sim unlock a carrier branded phone that is subsidized. However, "legacy" devices are allowed to be unlocked to be given to others or sold in the second hand market. The term "legacy" seems to be loosely understood as when the two year contract is up. I sometimes buy At&t phones (like the HTC One X) from eBay and unlock them with a code also bought on ebay. Is this considered illegal now? The idea is that when a carrier sells you a subsidized and locked phone on contract, you buy the hardware but the software is actually just a license, and unlocking your phone will break that license. However, since I am buying second hand and not purchasing anything directly from the carriers, will unlocking it be a problem?

 

[gtbarry]

Keep in mind that it is illegal to unlock a carrier locked phone without permission from the carrier. But it is not illegal to own, buy or sell an unlocked phone. It is the act of unlocking that is illegal.

That said, you can buy unlocked phones on ebay or even google directly. But expect the unlock codes to perhaps disappear from ebay. Although unlocking is not illegal in all countries - so not sure how that will factor in to how ebay, etc deal with this.