President Obama signs cell phone unlocking bill into law
The White House today announced that President Obama was signing the "Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act" into law after the bill passed successfully through both the House and Senate.
Today, President Obama will sign into law the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, and in doing so, will achieve a rare trifecta: a win for American consumers, a win for wireless competition, and an example of democracy at its best -- bipartisan congressional action in direct response to a call to action from the American people.
The bipartisan bill restores the exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that made it legal to unlock a cell phone. The Library of Congress failed to renew this exemption in 2012 and sparked an outrage that led to the eventual passage of this bill. This provision for unlocking a smartphone will remain in effect until the Library of Congress reviews these DMCA exemptions again in 2015.
You can read more about the issue in this primer written by Brad Molen for Engadget.
Image obtained from Flickr.
