Re-lock un-locked cell phones !
p2pnet.net News:- New US copyright rules will let cell phone owners break software locks so they can use their mobiles with competing carriers.
But, an exemption like this could stop TracFone Wireless from successfully thwarting hackers, WirelessWeek has the company saying.
So TracFine is suing the US government, hoping to have the U.S. Copyright Office repeal the rules.
Why?
Because by allowing cell phone customers to disable the software that tethers it to a particular carrier, “the U.S. Copyright Office is making it easier for people to sell phones overseas at a profit – and thus hurt TracFone’s ‘practice of offering low-cost wireless telephone service to a large number of customers who may not otherwise be able to afford it’,” says CNET News.
The story points out TracFone’s business model, “reportedly rides on selling Nokia handsets at below-cost and recovering the difference through the fees charged for phone minutes”.
It’s, “also noted it has successfully won complaints hinging on DMCA violations in the past,” says CNET, adding, “Critics, meanwhile, have contended that such suits are an example of a use that the law was not supposed to cover.”
If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, here for the p2pnet download, and here for details. And if you’re Chinese and you’re looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.
Also See:
break software locks – Cellphone software unlocked, November 25, 2006
WirelessWeek – TracFone Files Suit, December 7, 2006
under arrest – TracPhone challenges right to “unlock” cell phones, December 6, 2006
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December 8th, 2006 at 5:49 pm
Alright, this is re-goddamn-diculous. This claim doesn’t have anything to do with copyrights at all. How exactly do you call copyright infringement on a phone service? That would be like if someone figured out a way to modify the iPod to play C.R.A.P-infected music from other pay services besides iTunes, or vice versa. Apple (or Creative, Microsoft, et al) would not have the authority sue, because no infringement has taken place. When Hollywood gets pissed off at people being able to copy DVD’s, it’s because the copy protection exists to prevent unauthorized copying of THEIR COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. How does that have anything to do with these companies implementing the same unethical strategy to hold a monopoly over their consumers?
December 8th, 2006 at 6:22 pm
look it up what it stands for if you don’t understand what this has to do with copyrights
December 8th, 2006 at 6:37 pm
The other poster is correct. It doesn’t have anything to do with copyright. TracFone is making no claims of copyright infringement. They are mis-applying the anti-circumvention portions of the DMCA to protect a poorly structured business model.
And for cripes sake, use some capitalization, punctuation, oh, and maybe even some basic grammatical structure.