The US Senate has effectively given the green light to US cell phone owners to unlock their devices if they want to, after a change in the rules back in January that infuriated most of the nation.
It’s not often that the US Senate wins applause for displaying genuine common sense and logical thinking – today brings a rare example of exactly such behavior. With zero fuss or opposition to the idea, a bill has been passed which means that if a mobile phone owners decides that he or she would like to have their device unlocked from its primary network or carrier, they’re wholly entitled to do so.
“I applaud the Senate for so quickly passing the bipartisan Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, which puts consumers first and promotes competition in the wireless phone marketplace,” wrote Senator Patrick Leahy in a response, the chap responsible for penning the bill.
“With the Senate’s swift action last night, just days after the Judiciary Committee approved the measure, I hope the House will soon take up and pass our bill so that consumers will be able to use their existing cell phones on the wireless carrier of their choice.”
It wasn’t long ago that it was totally legal and within the rights of anyone to unlock a Smartphone. However, a change in the rulebook in January saw it become effectively illegal to unlock handsets, which of course triggered a gigantic backlash from pretty much every sensible member of the consumer public.
From the FCC to device resellers to the everyday Smartphone owner, everyone kicked off and…if we’re honest…most completely ignored the new rule anyone. After all, it’s not like it was fair, logical or enforceable.
But rather than getting bogged down in a rant, let’s just offer a fair and polite nod of appreciation to the Senate for the kind of rule-reversal we don’t see too many of.