The US Could Soon Ban the Selling of Carrier-Locked Phones

They argue that selling phones unlocked makes it far easier for consumers to switch networks, resell their phones, or even just give them to someone else.“I can’t think of anything more customer-hostile than locking a phone to a particular carrier,” says Kyle Wiens, CEO of the right-to-repair advocacy group iFixit (and an occasional WIRED contributor). However, along with other device manufacturers, wireless carriers have argued that the digital locks they place on devices, such as the ones that keep cell phones bound to a particular network, are protected by Section 1201 of the DMCA. Unfortunately, the place we find ourselves in is a world where software is in everything, and software is covered by copyright law.”In 2015, the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act made it legal for customers to unlock phones without penalty. Carriers aren’t required to make phones unlocked by default, but they do have to give customers a way to unlock them. That added friction makes it more of a pain to sell or gift a phone down the line.“It’s just a massive pain for consumers,” Wiens says, adding, “There’s a really substantial cost, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, to American consumers by having this default in place.”On resell markets like Swappa, locked phones tend to sell for considerably less than unlocked phones. Every additional complication like this that lowers a phone’s resale value makes it less likely that it will be reused.“If we can force more phones to be unlocked, that will potentially expand the life of these phones by years,” Wiens says.