Back in October 2012, the Library of Congress' Copyright Office ruled the unlocking of smartphones as illegal, under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA). The ruling went into effect as of January 26 for any newly purchased devices. But a White House petition is apparently asking for help from the administration.
The petition on the WhiteHouse.gov site, entitled "Make Unlocking Cell Phones Legal," currently has 88,590 signatures. Recently, the White House raised the minimum amount of signatures needed to warrant a response to 100,000. The petition has until February 23 to do so.
"Consumers will be forced to pay exorbitant roaming fees to make calls while traveling abroad," reads the petition. "It reduces consumer choice, and decreases the resale value of devices that consumers have paid for in full."
According to MacRumors, the petition was started by Sina Khanifar, co-founder of crowdsourced carrier-signal tracker site OpenSignal. Khanifar's petition also draws into question the Library of Congress' notion that unlocked smartphones are readily available from the carriers themselves. But as the petition notes, "the great majority of phones sold are still locked."
Backers of the petition are asking the White House to either force the Librarian of Congress to rescind the decision, or to back legislation to make unlocking legal again.
Smartphones purchased before January 26 are still legal to unlock by private owners. We'll keep an eye out for a response from the White House.
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Image source: WhiteHouse.gov
