Starting this past weekend unlocking your smartphone is now illegal. According to wireless carriers in the US unlocking a phone purchased after January 26th without carrier permission violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
So what exactly does that mean to you? For the general user not much. Unlocking phones has generally been something only international travelers and power users want or need to do. Unlocking the phone allows you to use SIMs from other countries or carriers.
That seems pretty innocent, even useful for those that need it. So why is it illegal? Because of bad wording on the regulation. According to the DMCA circumventing any software or hardware lock that controls access to areas you should not have access to (i.e. Movies, Music, Software, even the operating system itself) which is a broad enough to cover unlocking a phone without permission from someone. When this law was put into place several consumer unions and even some smaller carriers sought an exemption, and got it, however the exemption had a limited timeframe on it which expired last weekend.
The main issue for the carriers is they don’t want people selling subsidized phones that have been unlocked to run on other carrier’s networks. This can be especially profitable when selling to countries overseas that do not have plans that subsidize hardware.
via Examiner National Edition Gadgets & Tech Channel Articles http://www.examiner.com/article/unlocking-your-smartphone-is-now-illegal?cid=roadrunner