In another thread, I had asked about unlocking cellular phones so that they could be used on different networks. The thread was closed by a mod (quite rightfully) since unlocking a cellular phone by third party methods was illegal.
I’m interested in learning about the illegality of unlocking. Is this federal or state legislation? Does anyone know if it is legal or illegal in Canada? Can anyone point me in the direction of the legislation or able to tell me what the potential penalties are?
I think I need to make the mods and others aware that I’m not seeking info about how to unlock a phone anymore. I’ve told my friend I can’t help. I am now just interested in learning more about the penalties and such.
I’m also interested in the answer to this question. I’ve never heard of a law against unlocking cell phones, and I was surprised that your last thread was closed so quickly without even a hint as to which law applies.
There are many businesses advertised online that will provide unlock codes for a fee; that doesn’t mean it’s legal, but I’d think they would at least make some attempt to cover it up if it were illegal.
Your friend isn’t stealing any service or violating any copyright by unlocking the phone; he’s simply typing a number into a device he owns which allows him to change its settings. The provider that sold him a locked phone below cost has already regained its money from his monthly bill, or by charging him an early termination fee - at least that’s how the U.S. providers do it.
I think the point of the xash’s message in the closed thread was that simply finding an unlock code online and punching it in is a breach of your service contract, and you could conceivably be sued for doing so. It’s perfectly legitimate to call up your company and ask for an unlock code — you just have to be willing to bend over & accept whatever fees they decide to charge you for the privilege.
At least, that’s the way I read it. I’m sure someone more knowlegeable than I will be along shortly.
That’s possible, but it would depend on the contract including that clause, and still being in effect. If I sign up for a two-year contract to get a cheap phone, then either wait two years or pay $175 to get out of the contract, I should be able to use that phone on another network.
My provider (the one you can hear now, and now, and now…) doesn’t lock their phones, but I’ll try to find my contract anyway to see if it mentions using the phone on another network.
Here in the UK, it is potentially illegal whilst under contract, ie before you own the phone, to unlock, but only if this is specified in the contract.
Buy a pay-as-you-go phone or achieve ownership of the phone after a contract period and you can do what the hell you like with it, unlocking included.
The mobile companies will, of course, lead you to believe that it’s illegal to unlock, as it’s simply not in their interests to facilitate SIM card swapping for a cheaper deal after they’ve subsidised the cost of the handset.
It took me 15 minutes from start to finish, without paying a penny, on a phone I legally owned.
A network locked phone is usually under a contract for a certain period.
It is a breach of contract to unlock the phone before the end of this contract period, since within this period the phone is not legally owned by the user. Unlocking the phone through 3rd party means within this period seems to be illegal. Beyond this period, it appears that it is legal in some countries (and maybe all) to obtain the unlock code through third parties.
What is clear is that reprogramming the IMEI number is illegal, atleast in UK:
Since this is in a legal grey area, with reasonable indication that the implied activity is illegal, I chose to close the previous thread. To protect the interests of the SDMB sometimes it is necessary to close threads even if they are not clearly discussing illegal activities. If you wish to discuss my actions further, feel free to open a pit thread.
So it appears that if a person were able to unlock a phone, it may well be breach of contract, but we’re not sure if it is bona fide illegal. My guess is that, even if the phone is still under contract, a person could probably get it unlocked without fear of legal penalties, but could face a civil action. It would depend on who owns the phone at the time, I suppose. In most scenarios, breach of contract would not itself be (what’s the word I’m looking for here? indictable?) offence.
xash, I can understand your reasons for closing the other thread and certainly have no desire to discuss that choice in the pit.
Sorry…I could have asked this in my last post. Is reprogramming the IMEI number the same as the thing you mentioned in the other thread about reprogramming the EEPROM?
Where the hell is everyone coming off saying the phone belongs to the cellular company during the contract term? There’s nothing anywhere in my contract that says that. I paid $150 for my phone, and presumably the phone company paid another $150 (hence the $150 early termination fee) (and not a cheapie basic phone). It’s my friggin’ phone! If I lose it, I’ve got to buy another one. If I want to take it out of the country, I don’t need to ask permission. If I want to sell the thing on eBay, it’s my choice to do so. I retain all exclusive title to it.
Okay, I just read through the dang Cingular contract. Can’t link to it, though, since it’s a text box. Nothing indicates that the phone is property of Cingular. In fact there are several references to “your phone” whereby “you” and “your” is previously defined as the customer. Also, no references whatsoever about not being able to swap SIMs, unlock phones, or doing anything at all that you’d want to do to your phone. The only thing remotely close is a prohibition to having two phones with the same number simultaneously accessing the Cingular system.
So at risk of enraging a mod and closing this thread, anyone want to tell me how to unlock my Sony-Ericsson T616?
I read my company’s service agreement and it doesn’t say the phone is not yours (it does state your number does not belong to you though).
Our internal policy with lock codes is we won’t release it if you plan on moving to a competitor (something about protecting our own interests regarding subsidized hardware). We will release codes if you move to another service provider outside our service area (so maybe moving to the US etc).
I guess the issue is, the hardware belongs to our customers (even on a contract) but the codes within the phone do not (at least not by default).
T-Mobile is another carrier that is not a fanatic about keeping the phones locked (at least the US division, YMMV substantially in Europe).
When I purchased mine, the TMo rep (company store, not indirect) said they would unlock it for me after 3 months–all I had to do was bring it in and ask. They also had an email address set up where you could request your unlock code pretty much immediately and they would send it to you, but, in that case, they did not offer support in case of screw-ups.
The particular handset I have (Samsung S-105) is easily unlocked by the user just using the keypad, so I didn’t personally have to do either of these things.
My cow-orkers and the fine folks over at Howard Forums generally say that what the rep told me is true.
Opinion:
One of the main selling points of a GSM network is the interchangeability of the various devices by simply swapping your SIM around–to be too anal about phone unlocking would seem to be counterproductive for a GSM carrier.
It’s not illegal, even during the contract - but they’ll still charge you the line rental etc for the full 12 months (or whatever). Also, they’re not obliged to provide an unlock code during the contract, but have to do so after that period. And they’re allowed to charge a fee for it.
I believe the IMEI is GSM’s equivalent to the ESN (Electronic Serial Number)… a number that uniquely identifies a phone, like a VIN uniquely identifies a car. You do not have to change the IMEI to use the phone on another network, and with an EEPROM programmer you would be able to change or remove the unlock code without affecting the IMEI.
You may remember problems with “cloning” from the bad old days of analog - that was where someone with a scanner would pull your phone’s ESN off the air when you made a call, and reprogram his own phone to match your ESN. He could then make calls with his clone and they would be billed to your account, since the network couldn’t tell the difference between his phone and yours. Today’s phones use more identification than just the ESN, and the ESN isn’t always transmitted over the air, so ESN cloning isn’t the problem it used to be.
I couldn’t find a copy of my contract. I doubt it said anything about unlocking, though, since the phone wasn’t locked in the first place. I don’t remember anything about the phone belonging to Verizon instead of me for the term of the contract; in fact I’ve never heard any cellular provider make that claim. Maybe it’s a European thing.