The White House has filed a formal petition to the Federal Communications Commission to legalize unlocking cell phones and tablets in the U.S.
Earlier this year, the Library of Congress refused to renew a Digital Millennium Copyright Act exemption, thus banning the unlocking of cell phones. The 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act prohibits an American from "circumventing" technologies that are protected by copyright. However, the DMCA offers the Library of Congress the right to make exemptions to this rule. The Congress exempted cell phones to this rule in 2006 and 2010. Every three years, the exemption is reviewed but this year it was not.
Soon, an Internet petition was filed asking the Library of Congress to change its stance on the legality of unlocking cell phones and tablets. The petition gained over 114,322 signatures. President Barrack Obama joined the lot in March, supporting the petition in full. He said that all mobile purchasers should have the right to unlock their phone whenever they wish. Months after voicing its support, the White House has now filed a formal petition to the Federal Communications Commission to legalize unlocking cell phones and tablets.
"Americans should be able to use their mobile devices on whatever networks they choose and have their devices unlocked without hassle," Lawrence Strickling, assistant secretary of the NTIA, said in a statement.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in an interview with TechCrunch earlier this year that the administration will review the formal petition and "see if we can and should enable consumers to use unlocked phones," adding that a ban on unlocking "raises competition concerns; it raises innovation concerns."
Tom Wheeler, President Obama's nominee to succeed Genachowski also revealed in June that he was in support of lifting the ban on unlocking cell phones.
Individuals who support the Library of Congress said that it was unfair to allow customers to unlock their phone and use it on different carriers after availing huge discounts and subsidiaries from carriers exclusively selling certain cell phones. According to the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, legalizing the unlocking of cell phones will increase competition and hence gives customers more choices.
