Cell Phone Unlocking Is Legal -- For Now

On Friday President Obama signed into a law a bill allowing mobile devices to be legally unlocked, so that consumers can switch between carriers. The legislation was kicked off by a successful petition on Whitehouse.gov after the Librarian of Congress decided that cell phones no longer needed an exemption from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anti-hacking provision. The legislation (PDF) passed both houses of Congress and is now law. Unfortunately, the new bill doesn't guarantee permanent legality. It simply reinstates the exemption, and leaves the DMCA alone. For the next year, cell phone unlocking will certainly be legal, but after that, the Librarian of Congress once again has the ability to void the exemption once every three years.

Comments

This is why "regulations" are bad

[Anonymous Coward]

It's ad hoc tyranny.

At least with legislative actions - LAWS - the voting population can theory hold elected government officials accountable.

But regulations that are effectively edicts from unelected bureaucrats?

Apropos, although in TFA the unelected bureaucrat is the Librarian of Congress:

Book Review: 'Is Administrative Law Unlawful?' by Philip Hamburger

The separation of powers broke down in the 20th century thanks to progressives who believed commissions could quickly improve society.