[governance] Fwd: Unlocking Your Phone Is Illegal Starting Tomorrow

[Kivuva]

In Kenya, its is illegal to unlock your network specific phone, even if you
purchased it with no plan.
That law is offensive.

On 28 January 2013 10:56, Daniel Kalchev <daniel at digsys.bg> wrote:

>
>
> On 28.01.13 06:41, Suresh Ramasubramanian wrote:
>
>> Charity Gamboa [27/01/13 22:29 -0600]:
>>
>>> upgrade. I've done it so I would think that the issue lies on the premise
>>> that if you are locked into a contract, unlocking your phone is not
>>> allowed. Once you are through with your contract, I would assume that
>>> your
>>> phone is paid for and technically yours.
>>>
>>
>> That premise is correct. Jailbreaking your phone when you buy it cheap on
>> contract is the issue here. Several people are doing this not for the
>> freedom of installing new apps, but to simply export the phone out and
>> sell
>> it at a profit in the second hand market in developing countries.
>>
>>
> I don't really get it. Are people indeed *that* dumb?
>
> Buying an "subsidized" phone on contract is essentially leasing the phone.
> You pay "small" price initially, which is essentially the initial payment
> in the leasing contract and you pay your monthly installments with your
> monthly services bill. How legal is that is another question.
>
> So why should the operator care at all, what you do with your handset?
> Whether you "unlock" it, sell it "cheaply" to someone "abroad", smash it
> with a hammer or drop it in your bathtub... does it really matter, as long
> as you pay your lease in form of monthly fees?
>
> Modifying the device in such a way that it becomes incompatible with, or
> dangerous to the (shared) carrier network is something entirely different
> that that should be prosecuted under existing laws.
>
> As for the "cheap" subsidized phones, the carries have long and boring
> contracts that cover these things and they will always get their money.
> Doesn't matter if you unlock the phone or not.
>
> My opinion is that carrier locking should be forbidden by law and not
> locking phones to the carrier should become an strict requirement for
> obtaining license to become public telecommunications operator. Remember
> how AT&T got split?
>
> Daniel
>
>
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