Well, after doing some Googling, I found this article
http://www.npr.org/2013/02/20/172466684/why-unlocking-a-cellphone-could-land-user-in-jail
which explains that you can still get your phone unlocked through your
carrier, so unlocking a cell phone in and of itself is not illegal. This
article also explains some of the reasoning behind this newest decision,
namely that unlocked cell phones are easier to buy in the first place
and carriers have made it easier for customers to get their phones
unlocked through the carrier.

I don't really have a strong opinion one way or the other, although I
think I should be able to unlock my cell phone if I want to, even if I'm
under contract to a carrier. Unlocking the cell phone doesn't mean I'm
still not under contract to the carrier, and the carrier is still going
to get my money through the contract period or by any penalties I might
pay by leaving my contract early.

I'm not a big fan on sensationalizing or misconstruing something to make
a point, but in this case, I can see where that might happen since so
many articles on the web, even from reputable news outlets, have titles
claiming that unlocking a cell phone is now illegal.
On 23/02/13 22:13, Ana G wrote:
> My understanding is that it was legal/permissible to unlock your cell
> phone until about a month ago. At that time, the exception that allowed
> it, which apparently needs to be renewed, expired.
> 
> I don't have strong opinions about locked-vs.-unlocked cell phones
> though I do agree with Khanna's description of the practice as
> capitalist cronyism. What I am more excited about is that the topic of
> books and our access to them is getting some attention.
> 
> I'm also happy about the lawsuit against Marriott. I think access to job
> related software is a very big problem. My three part-time jobs all use
> the same inaccessible training software, and one of the tests I took
> through Prometric appears to have been the same suite. A lawsuit like
> this one would force that company to come up with an accessible
> solution--to name just one example. another example is a type of
> software used in the translation industry. To get staff positions and
> move up through an agency, translators must be able to use this type of
> software. With one exception, a new company whose developers are working
> with a group of blind interpreters and translators, this type of
> software is inaccessible, offering screen reader access only to the most
> basic features. the current solution of having large screen reader
> developers and other consultants sell overpriced scripting services only
> adds to the problem.
> 
> ana will stop ranting now.
> 
> 
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-- 
Christopher (CJ)
chaltain at Gmail


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