[April 18, 2013] Business Q&A: The debate on unlocking cellphones far from over Tweet Apr 18, 2013 (The Oklahoman - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- National debate on unlocking cellphones has only just begun Q: I've heard copyright laws affecting cellphones have changed. Is that so A: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) prohibits circumvention of copyright protection systems. That means if your content or device contains technology or software designed to prohibit access to copyrighted works, you cannot use any method of getting around it. The copyright office is authorized to allow exemptions to the DMCA. These exemptions must be renewed every three years. It recently allowed an exemption for unlocking your cellphone, announced in 2006 and renewed in 2009, to expire. According to the copyright office, any phone bought after Jan. 26, cannot be unlocked without violation of the DMCA, unless the consumer first gets the permission of his carrier. Q: Why would anyone want to unlock his or her cellphone A: A locked phone will not operate without a SIM card installed from your carrier. However, for an unlocked phone, another carrier's SIM card can be inserted into the phone, switching it to the other carrier. Thus, a customer on one carrier easily could switch the phone to another by unlocking it at the end of his contract and replacing the SIM card with one from a different carrier. Consumers also unlock their phones to travel overseas. Most of the world uses the same standard as many U.S. carriers and when traveling you can buy a prepaid SIM card in most countries. Using that SIM with an unlocked phone gives you a cost-effective way of maintaining communications when traveling. Q: Is anything being done about this A: Fortunately, there has already been significant backlash from consumers. A petition on the official White House website quickly garnered more than 100,000 signatures. The Obama administration has announced its support for the exemption. The FCC also took issue with the ruling. Several bipartisan bills have been introduced in Congress. While all reverse this specific ruling, some do so for as little as one year, allowing the copyright office to let the exemption expire again next year. So the debate over the issue is far from over. PAULA BURKES, BUSINESS WRITER ------ ___ (c)2013 The Oklahoman Visit The Oklahoman at www.newsok.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]