After a petition to the U.S. Federal government to review cellphone unlocking legislation gained more than 114,000 online signatures, the White House was required to officially respond. On Monday it did, citing consumer support for legal cellphone unlocks. The petition, started by Sina Khanifar, was filed in response to a Jan. 26 date that put cell phone unlocking activities in control of the network operators, essentially making it illegal for consumers to unlock their own phones, even if out of contract or paid in full. The White House response indicates that understands various circumstances where consumers should have the right to unlock their devices, saying, “This is particularly important for secondhand or other mobile devices that you might buy or receive as a gift, and want to activate on the wireless network that meets your needs — even if it isn’t the one on which the device was first activated.”
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with AI strategy, implementation and governance, as well as technology, media and marketing. Named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Technology, he is a bestselling author, covers tech and business for Fox 5’s Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN, and writes the popular daily business blog Think About This. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.