Why cellphone unlocking is so important

Don't miss this call to arms on cellphone unlocking from Derek Khanna, the Republican staffer fired over a memo calling for copyright reform.

With SOPA, the industry had the money, the lobbyists, and the organization. But we, the digital generation, are the trump card—and we won. Now it’s up to us to make sure that the historic protest was not merely a historical aberration.

• [peregrinus]

  https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/make-unlocking-cell-phones-legal/1g9KhZG7

  signed

• [cleek]

  buy the phone outright. then you can do whatever you like with it.

  • [nowimnothing]

    So where are you going to buy this hypothetical unlocked phone outright?

    • [cleek]

      Amazon, Walmart, direct from manufacturer, etc..

    • [Lupus_Yonderboy]

      http://www.google.com/nexus/4/ is the next phone that I’m planning on buying, personally.

    • [nowimnothing]

      And if AT&T does not provide coverage where you are. Or if you would like a different carrier?

• [Petzl]

  Remember when Bell Telephone still owned every [land-line] phone in your house, and every month you paid Bell the rental fee for it and each additional extension and attaching your own phone (however you managed to acquire it) was prohibited?  Good times.

• [P.s. Octochicken]

  I’m not sure I understand “unlocking” a phone. The way I’ve interpreted it, it means that if I buy a Sprint brand phone I have to use Sprint phone service, but if I “unlock” it, I can use whatever service is cheaper or better for my situation. Is this correct? How do I unlock a phone?