# Reminder - new cell phones need carrier approval for unlocking



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

The DMCA exemption on unlocking expires today. Starting tomorrow, you can still unlock a phone you already own, but new phones would be a violation of the DMCA without approval from the carrier.

Rooting/Jailbreaking a phone is still OK, tablets are still illegal.

http://www.tmonews.com/2013/01/dmca-law-to-make-unlocking-phones-illegal-after-january-26th/


----------



## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

dpeters11 said:


> The DMCA exemption on unlocking expires today. Starting tomorrow, you can still unlock a phone you already own, but new phones would be a violation of the DMCA without approval from the carrier.
> 
> Rooting/Jailbreaking a phone is still OK, tablets are still illegal.
> 
> http://www.tmonews.com/2013/01/dmca-law-to-make-unlocking-phones-illegal-after-january-26th/


Isn't it necessary to unlock the phone before rooting/jailbreaking? I've never attempted to do either.


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

For iPhones you had to jailbreak to unlock, at least in the past.


----------



## RasputinAXP (Jan 23, 2008)

Yes, for Android you need to unlock the bootloader before you root it.


----------



## wingrider01 (Sep 9, 2005)

dpeters11 said:


> For iPhones you had to jailbreak to unlock, at least in the past.


You still di if you cannot fullfill the requirements for a unlock that att has

If you have an iPhone you'd like to unlock, please review the eligibility requirements located here prior to posting a message.

AT&T will unlock an iPhone under the following circumstances:

The person requesting the unlock is: 
a current AT&T customer or 
a former AT&T customer who can provide the phone number or account number for the account 
The iPhone was designed for use on AT&T's network 
All contract obligations, including any term commitment, associated with the device to be unlocked have been fully satisfied; and 
The iPhone has not been reported lost or stolen.


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

RasputinAXP said:


> Yes, for Android you need to unlock the bootloader before you root it.


But is that the same kind of unlocking? Does unlocking the bootloader on an AT&T phone allow you to put in a T-Mobile SIM card and have it work?


----------



## RasputinAXP (Jan 23, 2008)

Not the same kind of unlocking, but as far as I'm aware it's also a prerequisite to unlock the SIM. I could be wrong, I don't deal with GSM very much.


----------



## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

Unlocking is not the same as rooting a phone. Unlocking frees the phone from the carrier, enables the user to use the phone on other carriers. Rooting is not needed to unlock the phone.
Rooting is still legal, unlocking is not except for legacy phones and phones that have already been unlocked. Btw: Android phones can be rooted without unlocking the bootloader.


----------



## larryk (Aug 17, 2006)

Article on ABC News:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/now-illegal-unlock-cellphone/story?id=18319518

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


----------



## wingrider01 (Sep 9, 2005)

larryk said:


> Article on ABC News:
> http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/now-illegal-unlock-cellphone/story?id=18319518
> 
> Petition for repeal:
> https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/make-unlocking-cell-phones-legal/1g9KhZG7


will be interesting with the new requirements for the site

AS OF JANUARY 15, 2013:

To cross the first threshold and be searchable within WhiteHouse.gov, a petition must reach 150 signatures within 30 days.

To cross the second threshold and require a response, a petition must reach 100,000 signatures within 30 days.


----------



## dorfd1 (Jul 16, 2008)

does an android custom rom such as cyanogenmod result in an unlocked phone?

I thought you could not limit what the user can do with an open source os such as android?

how does this affect carriers that share towers with other carriers?


----------



## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

dorfd1 said:


> does an android custom rom such as cyanogenmod result in an unlocked phone?
> 
> I thought you could not limit what the user can do with an open source os such as android?
> 
> how does this affect carriers that share towers with other carriers?


You are confusing unlocking a phone from the sim card/carrier and unlocking the bootloader (after rooting the phone). These are not the same and custom roms do not unlock the phone.
To unlock the phone (as referred to in this law) you have to obtain a code from your carrier or a unlocking service. This is from ATT: http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB414532&cv=820#fbid=SS-1K2heCFZ
Unlocking your phone allows you to use the sim card from other carriers, as long as your phone's frequencies match those of the other carrier.
Again...custom roms do not unlock your phone from the carrier.


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

No, that won't unlock the sim card. They can prevent you from rooting, Motorola has done this in the past. 

It doesn't really affect other carriers. If you unlock an AT&T phone, you can put a T-Mobile SIM card in it, and it essentially becomes a T-Mobile phone. There is a potential frequency issue, AT&T and T-Mobile use different frequencies for 3G.


----------



## bobukcat (Dec 20, 2005)

You do not have to unlock the bootloader on an Android phone to root it, you only need to unlock the bootloader to run a custom kernel. I have multiple Motorola phones with locked bootloaders that are rooted (remove bloat, run tethering apps, custom ROMS, etc). That has little or nothing to do with the kind of unlocking that allows you to move a subsidized locked device to a different carrier though.


----------



## bobukcat (Dec 20, 2005)

dpeters11;3169440 said:


> No, that won't unlock the sim card. They can prevent you from rooting, Motorola has done this in the past.
> 
> It doesn't really affect other carriers. If you unlock an AT&T phone, you can put a T-Mobile SIM card in it, and it essentially becomes a T-Mobile phone. There is a potential frequency issue, AT&T and T-Mobile use different frequencies for 3G.


Moto has tried to prevent rooting but most, if not all, of their devices have root exploits available thanks to an incredible and motivated dev community.


----------

