Unlocking Your Cell Phone Now Illegal In US. As we known cellphone that you bought from a carrier, like AT&T, Verizon or Sprint are the phone only works on that carrier's cellular and data network unless you "unlock" it. Now According to Digital Millennium Copyright ACT(DMCA) If you Unlocking Your Cell Phone is Illegal In US.
According to ABC you must obtain your carrier's permission to unlock your phone or face a potential fine upto $2500. Anyone found unlocking handsets for profit coud be forced to pay upto $500,000 and jail too
"As of January 26, consumers will no longer be able unlock their phones for use on a different network without carrier permission, even after their contract has expired," reads the petition. "Consumers will be forced to pay exorbitant roaming fees to make calls while traveling abroad. It reduces consumer choice, and decreases the resale value of devices that consumers have paid for in full."
"We ask that the White House ask the Librarian of Congress to rescind this decision, and failing that, champion a bill that makes unlocking permanently legal," the petition text concludes.
"Violations of the DMCA [unlocking your phone] may be punished with a civil suit or, if the violation was done for commercial gain, it may be prosecuted as a criminal act," Brad Shear, a Washington, D.C.-area attorney and blogger who is an expert on social media and technology law, told ABC News. "A carrier may sue for actual damages or for statutory damages."
Source: Mashable, ABCNews
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