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Bill Proposes Canadian Cellphone Unlocking Rights

Posted by kdawson on from the any-network-that-works dept.

SJrX sends in a CBC report that the Canadian New Democratic Party has tabled a bill requiring all cellphone companies to provide unlocked cellphones. (Wikipedia notes, "The party is regarded as falling on the left in the Canadian political spectrum.") This reader adds, "The fact that there is a minority government currently should help this bill's chances of getting passed." "The bill proposes three rules: cellphone carriers would be required to notify customers at the point of purchase whether a phone is locked to work only on their network; they would have to remove such a lock free of charge at any point after the conclusion of the customer's service contract; and they would have to remove it if the customer does not enter into a contract within six months of buying the device up front."

3 of 359 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Oh Canada by Genwil · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And our taxes aren't even all that much higher when you add up all your state and local taxes. Plus a study has shown that citizens earning up to $85k/yr get back services worth more than that. We also live longer and do better in almost any social stat you can think of. But not to sound smug: we are far from perfect, and 30% of us seem hell-bent on voting for a party determined to be as Republican as they can.

  2. Gaining My Support by whisper_jeff · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm a Liberal and have been since I started voting. For the most part, I sympathized with the NDP (since they are a left party and I am similarly left in most of my views) but just didn't think most of their agendas were in line with my interests and goals. Of late, however, they have taken new "modern" issues very seriously and are coming out on the side I support, which is to say the side of the populace rather than corporate overlords. As the Liberals languish in a bygone era and the Conservatives drive further towards a system that I loathe (and all other options simply not worth considering unless I've already put a bullet in my head), I find myself becoming increasingly inclined to vote NDP in upcoming elections. Kudos to them and I hope they keep forcing the other parties to seriously consider consumer rights as various subjects are discussed and debated.

  3. Re:Oh Canada by plalonde2 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    So you also clearly don't keep health insurance for your family, don't benefit from (in no particular order) police services, fire departments, curb-side trash removal, winter snow removal, labor regulation, environmental regulation, judicial services, etc.

    Why are so many people willfully ignorant of what services modern governments pay for from their taxes?