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  • Generation Opportunity Unlocking Letter

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    alwaysderelict1159
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    As of 2003, consumers have had the right to change providers while keeping their wireless number. Since 2007, consumers have also had the right to "unlock" their wireless device. But the Librarian of Congress recently made a bureaucratic ruling eliminating consumers' right to use their own device after their contract expires. Unlocking is a simple technique where a patch is installed on the phone. Essentially, it lets a phone be used on a different phone carrier. This technology, while lawful in other countries and acknowledged by market experts as beneficial, is now illegal for Americans. This ruling hurts consumers, hinders competition, and stifles innovation and makes millions of average Americans felons punishable by 5 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

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    As of 2003, consumers have had the right to change providers while keeping their wireless number. Since 2007, consumers have also had the right to "unlock" their wireless device. But the Librarian of Congress recently made a bureaucratic ruling eliminating consumers' right to use their own device after their contract expires. Unlocking is a simple technique where a patch is installed on the phone. Essentially, it lets a phone be used on a different phone carrier. This technology, while lawful in other countries and acknowledged by market experts as beneficial, is now illegal for Americans. This ruling hurts consumers, hinders competition, and stifles innovation and makes millions of average Americans felons punishable by 5 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

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    35 views2 pages

    Generation Opportunity Unlocking Letter

    Uploaded by

    alwaysderelict1159
    As of 2003, consumers have had the right to change providers while keeping their wireless number. Since 2007, consumers have also had the right to "unlock" their wireless device. But the Librarian of Congress recently made a bureaucratic ruling eliminating consumers' right to use their own device after their contract expires. Unlocking is a simple technique where a patch is installed on the phone. Essentially, it lets a phone be used on a different phone carrier. This technology, while lawful in other countries and acknowledged by market experts as beneficial, is now illegal for Americans. This ruling hurts consumers, hinders competition, and stifles innovation and makes millions of average Americans felons punishable by 5 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 2

    Fix Copyright

    Dear Speaker Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Reid, We the undersigned organizations and individuals urge Congress to seriously and substantively address the concerns of millions of Americans on cell phone unlocking. Our contention is simple: given the enormous benefits that phone unlocking provides to the consumer, phone unlocking should be made permanently lawful for the consumer to use, industry to develop, and marketers to sell. Unlocking is a simple technology that allows consumers to plug their phones into a computer, run a computer program (or enter a code), and use a SIM card from another wireless carrier. In other words, it allows consumers to keep their cell phone, but change their carrier once their contract has expired. As of November 24, 2003, consumers were confirmed the right to change wireless providers while keeping their wireless number. Since 2007, consumers have also had the right to unlock their wireless device. Recently, however, the Librarian of Congress made a bureaucratic ruling making phone unlocking a felony punishable by 5 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. In January, over 114,000 Americans responded with a White House We the People petition demanding action on this important issue. By February, the administration responded, reversed its position, and came out in favor of cell phone unlocking. Since that time, several bills have been introduced in Congress as legislative solutions to the problem: Sens. Patrick Leahy, Chuck Grassley, Al Franken, and Orrin Hatchs Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act (S. 517) Rep. Bob Goodlatte Unlocking Consumer Choice (H.R. 1123) Sen. Ron Wydens Wireless Device Independence Act (S. 467) Sen. Amy Klobuchars Wireless Consumer Choice Act (S. 481) Reps. Zoe Lofgren, Thomas Massie, Anna Eshoo and Jared Poliss The Unlocking Technology Act of 2013 (H.R. 1892) Of these legislative options, a good first step to addressing this issue would be to pass Rep. Goodlattes legislation, H.R. 1123, as amended, which would temporarily reverse the decision of the Librarian, but still give the Librarian authority thereafter. This would give Congress the ability to address this issue by passing H.R. 1892, the Unlocking Technology Act of 2013.

    Generation Opportunity | 1320 N. Courthouse Rd. Arlington VA 22201 | www.generationopportunity.org

    H.R. 1892 is the only bill that sufficiently addresses the problem at hand. This legislation would permanently legalize the ability of consumers to unlock their own phones, and for third parties to help or develop tools to do so. The bill also protects accessibility technology for the blind and deaf by allowing the use of technologies for non-piracy and copyright purposes maintaining Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) protections. This is a basic issue of property rights. If you own your own phone, it is your right to switch carriers, install your own software, and call whomever you choose. If nothing is done, new and innovative technological solutions will increasingly fall under the control of the Librarian of Congress, setting harmful precedence for the future of the wireless market. We ask you to give these bills their deserved vote in the House and Senate. Sincerely,

    Generation Opportunity

    Campaign for Liberty

    R Street

    Fixcopyright.com

    Let Freedom Ring USA

    Cascade Policy Institute

    The Harbour League

    Generation Opportunity | 1320 N. Courthouse Rd. Arlington VA 22201 | www.generationopportunity.org

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