Beginning Friday, August 1st, it is once again legal to unshackle your carrier-locked cell phone in the United States. President Obama on Friday signed the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act into law, thus giving cell phone users the legal right to unlock their handsets.
Smartphones are often sold locked by wireless carriers in the U.S., meaning that the devices can only operate on the contracted carrier’s network despite being technically compatible with other networks. This new law will make unlocking those cell phones for use on other networks via a third party legal once again after an amendment to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act made it illegal last year.
