FCC Investigating U.S. Ban of Unlocking Cell Phones

[teh_chem]

I hope this gets reversed. But...

I also think that the current model of cell phone carriers is awful. You get a "subsidized" phone. OK. So if I have an "unsubsidized" phone, how come I don't get a discount on my monthly payments? That's where this whole model breaks down.

Personally, I'd rather shell out a few hundred bucks for the phone of my choosing, and pay my carrier for honest-to-god usage. Not all this other crap.

I hate that it operates on the Sprint network, but I really like using Ting as my provider. Sure, they're young and small, and their hardware options are small but growing. But you get exactly that. You buy a phone for full retail, and you get much more-reasonable prices for minutes/text/data. I still think the prices for cell service are inflated in general, but paying ~$25/mo for my cell phone is better than $80/mo for the exact same service..

 

[Pixels303]

If people stood up and boycott companies who directly influence others to pass laws to bypass fair trade or consumer rights, then maybe they would realize that there would be fallout by deciding to make changes without consent from their end-users.

If you don't like what they feed you, don't eat it, and if you want to do better, make up your own company and offer more than what companies offer today. Treat your consumers with respect.

If they got their way every time and people were comlacent enough to accept whatever they provided them for money, this is what you would get: Contracts which state that everything you buy belongs to someone else and must be re-purchased every year, that no customizations may be made and that the contract holder can change the agreement at any time without notification.


Oh and the Government is there to protect the people, not to protect the interests of a small group of people. Time you start working that way. Passing laws for corporations which allow monopolization should not be practiced. America is getting a bad name for itself because of a few bad apples.

 

[thecolorblue]

the corporate run "democracy" is running smoothly

 

[Supertrek32]

"who thrive on lucrative contracts that literally chain customers for two years."

Literally?

 

[hoofhearted]

By this logic then, the carrier should reduce the monthly fee once the phone is paid off. And if they don't offer this to you, you should have the right to torture the corporate staff of the carrier (or is this too extreme?)

 

[alidan]

[citation][nom]A Bad Day[/nom]We can't even afford our own prisons. There's overcrowding in majority of them. Not too long ago, two busloads of prisoners were transported from all the way from Chicago to a local "correction facility" in my county.[/citation]

drug laws and manditory minimum laws are the problem there.
also 3 strike laws that allw the 3rd strike to be n on violent.

 

[tlg]

How about stopping using smartphones? I mean... my 10 year old nokia 3210 still works fine... and the call quality is top!

 

[smeezekitty]

[citation][nom]tlg[/nom]How about stopping using smartphones? I mean... my 10 year old nokia 3210 still works fine... and the call quality is top![/citation]
Irrelevant. To stop using something does not make the law reasonable.

 

[digitalvampire]

You know. If the Linux kernel would change it's license to GPLv3 instead of GPLv2, they wouldn't be allowed to lock cell phones (at least Android) to start with.

 

[digiex]

US of A is becoming a corporate dictatorship.

 

[babsomotden]

Just the picture used made me read the post. Kinda scary looking guy there. More axes for the unlockers

 

[goodguy713]

[citation][nom]digiex[/nom]US of A is becoming a corporate dictatorship.[/citation]

technically we are slaves.. we just get paid to.. which really isnt any different from the moment were born till the time we die .. this is corperate america. any way Im with the guys on this take verginmobile for instance you buy the phone out right .. and would it still be illegal to jail break it? .. or an iphone for that matter..

 

[BadCommand]

[citation][nom]Soda-88[/nom]Nice one, Anders Breivik got 21 years for murdering 77 people and US citizens who unlock their phone can get 1/4 of that. I think it's safe to say that I'm glad I don't live there.[/citation]

Just 21 years for murdering 77 people- I can say I'm glad I don't live there.

 

[glasssplinter]

Not understanding a single thing about this. If you sign up with a carrier and get a phone, you now have a contract with said carrier. You unlock the phone, then go to another carrier with it before the contact is up (why?) but you will still end up paying the etf or the monthly rate. Why is this such a big deal?

 

[CHACHOUU]

What a country,and we think we have the best system in the World,more like the best THIEVES.

 

[wildkitten]

While the law itself is a horrible law that may not pass constitutional muster, unless it makes carriers totally responsible for the maintenance and replacement of the phone, which it doesn't seem to, what is worrisome is the FCC investigating the matter.

The FCC has no legal or constitutional authority to revoke a law passed by congress and signed by the president, only the court system has that authority. One of the reasons we get silly laws like this is because we ignore out own systems in place no matter where that system is.

 

[learn to count people]

Never understod why anyone in their right mind would sign up fo a contract deal, you always lose out in the end. In the end it costs the same or more than buying the phone day one, you cant sell it untill two years when the market value has plummeted and you cant change carrier if ur dissatisfied. If you cant afford to buy something cash, then dont, montly payment schemes always end up fing you in the ass, the carriers arent doing it out of charity they make much more money of those deals.

 

[soundping]

It's all about keeping the bloatware on your phone.

 

[demonhorde665]

[citation][nom]jezus53[/nom]weird isn't it? the fine for speeding in my area, essentially risking peoples lives because you are in such a hurry, comes out to around 400 dollars. running a red light costs you 397 dollars (according to the signs at nearly every intersection here). but I'm glad we have such strict penalties for such terrible and heinous crimes like unlocking my own cell phone.[/citation]

well it's obvious uncle same and big buisness think cellphone's companie's money is more important thatn , children , people's lives, and private property... as most crimes related to things have far less severe penalties. Child molesters , drunk drivers , home burglary .. all get lesser sentences.

This is surely a sad thing and the men that passed this through will likely get their due eventually , in this life or the next.

 

[Wisecracker]

[citation][nom]Hellstalker[/nom]If this is so then carriers should be obliged to unlock your phone automatically when your contract is over, else the same penalty for every phone NOT unlocked.[/citation]
I'm going with this.
[citation][nom]thecolorblue[/nom]the corporate run "democracy" is running smoothly[/citation]
And, this.
[citation][nom]digiex[/nom]US of A is becoming a corporate dictatorship.[/citation]
And this, too.

When the SCOTUS declared corporations are *people*, and unlimited (and anonymous!) corporate campaign contributions were legal, *real people* became second class citizens.