Comments on: Unlocking of Carrier-tied Smartphones to Be Illegal Starting Tomorrow, has Nothing to do With Bootloaders

By: Wireless Industry employee

Wireless Industry employee — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 22:02:00 +0000

As long as you purchased your phone at a discounted cost it makes perfect sense. According to the contract you sign, at least for the major four carriers, you are leasing the phone. It is there property and they sell you a phone at a discounted rate and make up the money throughout the contract. Most companies do not have the resources to enforce this so they charge you an early termination fee for the contract. This law gives them the ability to enforce.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 01:27:00 +0000

I’m not talking about ending the contract though. Just selling the phone. I could sell my phone right now, keep all my profit, and not have to pay any fee to anybody. Of course, I would need to buy or obtain another phone to use with the data I’m purchasing from my carrier.

If I was financing a car and sold it, I would not keep my profits, I would need to pay off the loan – because I do not own the car. The bank owns it. On the other hand, I own my phone, and nobody else does. These analogies do not hold up…

By: Sean O'Connor

Sean O'Connor — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 22:55:00 +0000

I think it is much more equivalent to financing a car, rather than leasing. OP may be confusing the difference. However, if you pay off the rest of your car loan, which is the same as paying a termination fee, I can guarantee the dealer couldn’t care less if you sold the car the next day, even if you somehow magically managed to do it at a profit.

Some carriers have flat rate ETFs, but many of them pro-rate to the length of your contract. Both my last AT&T and Verzion phones had discounted ETFs since I was near the end of my contracts. Hence, the similarity to paying off a loan.

In many other countries, if you don’t take the subsidy, you can get an equivalent amount off your bill every month instead. I really wish it worked this way in the US instead.

By: Tyler Cameron

Tyler Cameron — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 00:51:00 +0000

Software has nothing to do with it. Unlocking a phone is simply a damn code. You’re not making any modifcations to the software whatsoever. You’re simply putting in a software code

By: alphathirteen

alphathirteen — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 20:07:00 +0000

You’re awesome. Thanks!

By: JRomeo

JRomeo — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 19:21:00 +0000

This is why we should all buy the Nexus 4 which currently sells for $299 or $349 off-contract, and unlocked.

By: JRomeo

JRomeo — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 19:19:00 +0000

I wish that was true, even after you payoff the contract, or do the ETF, you still do not own your phone. it is still illegal to unlock it, even after contract is ended: http://www.slashgear.com/eff-clarifies-laws-behind-unlocking-and-jailbreaking-phones-29267197/

By: JRomeo

JRomeo — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 19:17:00 +0000

Actually, let me correct you on that one. If you break the contract as you mention “(ETF or contract is up)” then no, you are not free to do what you want, because according to the law, you cannot unlock your phone, EVEN IF you are no longer under contract: Source: “Even for phones that are no longer under contract, it’s still illegal to unlock them” http://www.slashgear.com/eff-clarifies-laws-behind-unlocking-and-jailbreaking-phones-29267197/

By: JRomeo

JRomeo — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 19:13:00 +0000

They’re available in the google play store today, go go go go buy one before they sellout again.

By: RiseofTerror.com

RiseofTerror.com — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:53:00 +0000

If you look, it appears that a Fee Waiver is pretty much the norm, if you ask for it. At least with AT&T. Also I didn’t pay $200 for the phone, why would I add it? I bought it from an authorized AT&T Dealer. It’s being subsidized somehow, by Best Buy or AT&T or otherwise. Also when I bought my HTC Inspire back in the day it was $0.00. So no, I’m not going to include the price of a phone that I never pay in the math. I don’t necessarily agree with the change to the law, especially if someone buys their phone outright, it should be “unlocked” regardless. But my point is that I could leave AT&T for much less than if I bought the phone from somewhere else, currently.

By: Srini

Srini — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:40:00 +0000

you forgot to add $200 for the phone. Blackfriday connection/setup fee waiver is not the norm. Its probably from a third party that is willing to take those risks for commissions from the carrier.

Talk about 200 + 358.99 = 558.99 + 40 for connection setup = ~600$.

The math IS wrong.

By: calculatorwatch

calculatorwatch — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 05:35:00 +0000

“NYC, you neglect the fact that leased vehicles can be purchased as well. The purchase price is measured as a function of time and miles. Not much different than your subsidized phone etf.”

This statement is the most telling in this whole argument. By the analogy, if you are leasing the phone (buy it subsidized) and you decide to buy it (pay the etf) you should then be to get a new motor (unlock it) without any consequences.

The only problem with this comparison is that the etf is a flat rate so people can pay it right away and get a discount on their phone. Simple solution: start the etf at the difference between the subsidized price and the retail price and decrease it by 1/24th of that amount after each bill. All they need is a change in policy, not a whole new law to solve this problem.

Of course the carriers don’t wanna change their policies because they make plenty of money when people get fed up with them with 6 months left on their contract and have to pay $350 for essentially nothing…

By: NYCLawyer

NYCLawyer — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 18:43:00 +0000

Wrong again, You do not lease the software. Show me in your contract where you lease your software. If it isn’t in the contract, it doesn’t exist. It’s fiction like your intelligence. You license the software. That is not that same thing as a lease. If you lease a car and don’t pay for it, the company takes it away.
You are right, though, with regard to the license – if you don’t pay your bill, you lost the right to use the software (they take your service away). But they shouldn’t have the right to use the criminal process to force you to continue to pay.
Your analogy fails. Period.

By: Jeff Tycz

Jeff Tycz — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 18:17:00 +0000

And I am sorry that you do not understand that just because you own the phone does not mean you own the software, you just lease the software just like you lease every OS,Game System etc when you buy it. Just because you buy the device does not mean you own the software and the code behind it. When you sign a contract you agree that your phone is locked and out of your control. So again I say if you get the phone on contract you have no right to unlock the phone until the contract is up or you buy it at full price. I hope you really are not a lawyer because you might want to look into going back to school

By: SmartConsumer

SmartConsumer — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 15:17:00 +0000

This is nothing like leasing a car, just think it through for a minute and you will see. This is more like BUYING and car, from Chevrolet, with a 2 year maintenance package and then the dealership saying that you will go to jail if you go to Ford dealership for an oil change.