Hands Off My Phone

Dear Member of Congress:

The Librarian of Congress decided late last year that the popular practice of cellphone unlocking should be illegal.

On March 4, the White House wrote that “consumers should be able to unlock their cellphones without risking criminal or other penalties.”

I urge you to overturn the Librarian’s harmful decision. If I paid for my mobile device, I should have the right to modify it and use it on another network.

Please introduce and pass legislation that legalizes cellphone unlocking.

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Congress: Free Our Phones

The White House thinks we should be able to use our mobile devices as we wish.

That freedom came under threat late last year, when the Librarian of Congress decided to enforce a rule making cellphone unlocking illegal, and punishable by crazy fines up to $500,000 and up to 5 years in jail.

So cellphone unlocking must be this terrible thing, right? No. It involves making changes to your phone so it can work on any mobile network.

More than 100,000 people told the White House that cellphone and tablet unlocking should be legal. And the Obama administration just said it agrees:

"Consumers should be able to unlock their cellphones without risking criminal or other penalties …

" ... Neither criminal law nor technological locks should prevent consumers from switching carriers when they are no longer bound by a service agreement or other obligation."

Translation: Obama wants a bill.

We need open devices and networks to communicate and innovate — and that means we should have the right to modify our own hardware and truly own our cellphones.

Tell Congress to write a bill.