Cellphone unlocking has been a pretty hot topic in mobile lately. The issue arose early in 2013 when an exception in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act expired and made it illegal for consumers to unlock their phones. Thankfully, today we’ve gotten one step closer to that issue going away.
The U.S. Senate passed a bill on Tuesday that will make cellphone unlocking legal once again. Known as the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, the bill will allow consumers to unlock their phones once their contract is up and switch carriers if they choose to do so.
“This straightforward restoring bill is about promoting consumer rights,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy, the person that introduced the bill. “When consumers finish the terms of their contract, they should be able to keep their phones and make their own decision about which wireless provider to use.”
Now that the bill has unanimously passed the Senate, it must be voted on by the House of Representatives.
It’s great to see this bill make progress through the government. After all, once a consumer has completed their contract, that device belongs to them and they should be able to do with it as they please. Here’s to hoping that after the bill got unanimous approval in the Senate, it gets a similar reception in the House.
Via TechCrunch, The Hill
