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What You Can Do About the Phone Unlocking Fiasco

Posted by samzenpus on from the power-to-the-people dept.

itwbennett writes "Now that the ridiculous phone unlocking law is a done deal, and we all understand exactly what that means (i.e., 'fines of up to $500,000 and imprisonment of up to five years'), you might be left wondering what can you do about it. Well, you could start by lending your John Hancock to this petition at the White House's 'We The People' platform. It's already over halfway to the number of signatures required to get a response from the executive branch."

9 of 416 comments (clear)

  1. Hate to be a troll or anything, but... by Penguinisto · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...seriously - even if it got 500,000 signatures, I doubt the White house will do a damned thing about it. The law would have to be reversed by Congress, and right now, even if Obama wanted to, he's going to save his political capital for those fights which advance his own goals

    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    1. Re:Hate to be a troll or anything, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      What if Obama's iPhone 5S platinum plus edition is locked to AT&T, but he wants to use BOOST MOBILE? Then this would be a fight which advances his own goals.

    2. Re:Hate to be a troll or anything, but... by deoxyribonucleose · · Score: 5, Funny

      I wasn't aware that sucking up to the rich and mighty was exclusively predicated on hereditary feudalism. That's a relief. Let's everybody go tell their bosses exactly how we feel about them!

    3. Re:Hate to be a troll or anything, but... by stephanruby · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Also, we're acting defensively when we should be going on the offensive instead. Reinstating our rights to unlock our phones is not enough.

      The locking of phones by carriers should be made illegal in the first place. Our airways are a public good. They're part of our public infrastructure. They're just like our public roads. As a society, we get to set the rules of the road, or update them as need be. The locking of phones may have been ok in the beginning, but this is a business practice that needs to stop right now.

  2. Don't buy subsidized phones by somenickname · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's pretty simple what you can do about it: Don't buy subsidized phones. Not only do you end up paying more for a subsidized phone, you lose your rights to do whatever you want with it.

    I really don't understand why people are so up in arms about this. I'm a card carrying member of the EFF and ACLU and, apart from the fact that this is a criminal offense instead of a civil issue, I'm not really that concerned because the "loophole" is so simple: Buy your fucking phone instead of renting it.

  3. USA! USA! by coder111 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is it just me, or is capitalism in USA becoming even scarier than socialism in USSR was? I mean, I understand ending up in a mental institution (or a gulag in earlier times) for criticising the party. That's harsh and ruthless and unfair and evil, but at least understandable. But life-ruining fines and jail time for downloading an mp3 or using a device you own to the fullest? That's just insane. Well, not insane. It's exactly the same thing. It's a punishment for resistance against the Powers that Be. In USSR this was the government and the party, so you were punished for speaking up against government. In USA government does not matter. In USA it's the corporations, so you'll get punished for doing anything at all that annoys them.

    Compared to being ruled by these corporations, politburo looks like a good idea...

    --Coder

    1. Re:USA! USA! by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The systems aren't that much different when you strip the fluff.

      Both systems are founded on a lie. The Communist lie was "Work hard today, and we'll all be living in paradise tomorrow." The Capitalist lie is more insidious, because it's more personal. "Work hard, and you can be rich too". What's insidious about it is that success is only dependent on YOU. If Communism fails, we all failed, and hence the system. If you don't work out in Capitalism, it only means you didn't work hard enough, it doesn't mean that the system is a lie. And as if to prove it is, there are some people who actually "made it", who managed to get rich. But once you look closer and find out just HOW they got rich, you notice that most of them either came from rich backgrounds or had backers who Joe Average has no chance of ever meeting. What's left of those self-made millionaires, who actually had an idea, risked everything and succeeded, is pretty close in number to lottery millionaires.

      In other words, if you want to get rich, forget working and buy a lottery ticket. It's much easier, less risky and more likely.

      The only "advantage" the Capitalist system has over the Communist one is that it's harder to see through. Plus we do not have a "West" that would show us that there's a better way.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  4. How America has withered ... by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yes, that phone unlocking law is totally ridiculous.

    That law suits North Korea much better than it does in America.

    But the fact that this has happened in the United States of America says a lot about how the Americans themselves have changed.

    It used to be that the congress critters were afraid of their constituents.

    It used to be that those living inside (and the surrounding area) of Washington D.C. have to listen to the people living outside of that area.

    No more.

    Nowadays we have ridiculous laws being passed, without even a single objection from the public.

    Nowadays the Americans are so complacent, that the congress (and the White House) get to do anything that they want to do, because they are not afraid of their constituents anymore.

    The death of Mr. Aaron Swartz should not have happened in America.

    America supposed to be a country where abusive officials do not get any foothole.

    In fact, the birth of the United States of America was because the British government got too abusive, so much so that the people rose up and chased out the Brits.

    I used to live in America in the 1960's till early 2000's, and I've witnessed the change myself.

    Americans no longer care for freedom.

    Americans no longer willing to fight for liberty.

    In other words, America has withered.

    Can someone please change the wording of the American national anthem ?

    The one about "Land of the Free", "Home of the Brave", in more ways than one, no longer apply.

    --
    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
    1. Re:How America has withered ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Congress isn't afraid of the people any more because they've learned how to control them better. Distract the masses with things like immigration reform, gay rights, abortion, things that get people excited. Then while everyone is screaming about those things, pass laws that screw over the common person. That's why I don't think they'll ever resolve the distraction issues. They need them in the news, unresolved, to keep the attention elsewhere.