Now you CAN (theoretically) take it with you

As of today, in the U.S., you are now *allowed* to take your mobile phone to other carriers. Gone are the days of proprietary wireless phone service.

Here's the deal: normally when you purchase a new wireless phone, you will get a *locked* phone at a discount price as long you enter into a one-or-two year contract with a particular carrier at a certain service price level, often you will have to commit to a plan that costs a minimum amount per month, i.e. $29.99. At the end of your contract, you can usually reduce your service to a cheaper plan if it suits you. However, many times you've still only been able to use your phone with that carrier, even after your contract is up.

Otherwise, you have had to pay a premium price for an "unlocked" and non-contractual phone, in order to have one that is usable with any carrier that supports the network (GSM or CDMA) of the model phone you choose.

[Note:There have always been some workarounds to this issue, but until now those *workarounds* have been illegal.]

You will still have to pay through the nose for a new *unlocked* non-contractual phone. However, any phone you get at a discount with a contract is now able to be legally unlocked when your contract ends. You will still have to fulfill your contractual obligations (or pay the early cancellation penalty), but you no longer are tethered to your carrier until the end of all time, or at least until you buy a new phone.

Truly, this only half the issue; carriers are still not required to activate *any* phone on their system, because it's far more lucrative for the carrier to sell you a new *locked* phone at an extreme discount and get you to commit to a contract with a certain monthly cost of service, than it is for you to get cheaper service on a month-to-month basis with a phone you already own.

Two questions:
a) I don't know if this will be retroactive to phones that people currently own, or only on newly issued phones.
b) If it is retroactive, I don't know if carriers or manufacturers will be *required* to provide the necessary unlocking procedures to customers.

I do wonder if this will be the end of deep discounts on wireless products, because the carrier is no longer able to guarantee that you will be *locked* in to using their service at the end of your contract.

However, this new legislation is a small step towards freedom for the people.

"Rulemaking on Exemptions from Prohibition on Circumvention of Technological Measures that Control Access to Copyrighted Works:

The Librarian of Congress, on the recommendation of the Register of Copyrights, has announced the classes of works subject to the exemption from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. Persons making noninfringing uses of the following six classes of works will not be subject to the prohibition against circumventing access controls (17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(1)) during the next three years.

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5. Computer programs in the form of firmware that enable wireless telephone handsets to connect to a wireless telephone communication network, when circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of lawfully connecting to a wireless telephone communication network.

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These exemptions went into effect upon publication in the Federal Register on November 27, 2006, and will remain in effect through October 27, 2009."

Some commentary and discussion on the subject:

TreoCentral
Engadget
Brighthand
CNet
Yahoo!