Lawmakers look to legalize cellphone unlocking

thehill.com

6 points·joelhaus··2 comments

Hope this serves as a reminder to the cynical commenters in yesterday's thread for the White House petition response. Your representatives are listening.

While the situation can sometimes feel hopeless, particularly with the large sums of money pouring into the pockets of politicians from industry lobbies, that money is only as good as the votes it can buy. A vocal constituency is capable of putting fear into the hearts of their elected officials.

It turns out that the White House petition app is an excellent tool to bring attention to an issue. In my eyes, this will be the first big win for the tech community since PIPA/SOPA and l'm looking forward to see what's next (prohibit states from outlawing municipal broadband buildouts?). Thanks again to those who won't allow themselves to be victims of their circumstance and for taking action. Our democracy is a system that requires our active participation for success, and while it will never be perfect, we owe it to our ancestors and future generations to stay engaged.

They've latched onto a throw-away issue for some cheap goodwill. They are proposing to permit unlocking outside of service contract terms and limits. This causes some discomfort for their telco buddies, but it is relatively minor, and the telcos continue to receive other goodwill from the Administration and Congress that far outweighs this.

And, this comes at a time when Congress et al. are effectively doing squat about the sequester and many other more significant, and/or time critical, issues.

I have a completely cynical opinion of this latest "action" by the Administration and Congress. It is entirely self-serving. They are doing you no favors; rather, they are simply attempting to buy some cheap goodwill.

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