Unlocking iPhone?

I'm at a crossroads here. I see other posts questioning the unlocking of Iphone. As far as I "know" or at least I think I "know" it isn't illegal. But one post said it was. Anyway I'm not sure if this discussion is not allowed please lock it or do whatever you do, but please realize from what I've been told it's not illegal and I've seen other posts, so I'm not intentionally breaking the rules. If the post disappears or something, I will take that as a hint that we shouldn't discuss it here.

So for question 1 is unlocking an iPhone legal? (I think I found my own answer for that. For what I'm doing I believe the answer is yes, it is legal. DMCA "for the sole purpose of lawfully connecting to a wireless telephone communication network" from webpage
http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/24/know-your-rights-is-it-illegal-to-unlock-my-iphone/

2 is what providers can it be unlocked for. I've read only providers that have "sim" cards but I've not been able to find a list of which providers have sim cards. Any help,is totally helpful

Corbri said:

I'm at a crossroads here. I see other posts questioning the unlocking of Iphone. As far as I "know" or at least I think I "know" it isn't illegal.

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Read your linked article again:

linked article said:

Just like any other piece of code, the iPhone's firmware is protected by the Copyright Act, and circumventing the access controls in place to get at that code is a violation of the DMCA. However, the Copyright Office issued six exemptions to the DMCA last year, one of which allows consumers to unlock their cellphones "for the sole purpose of lawfully connecting to a wireless telephone communication network."
Remember, all the ruling says is that cellphone firmware isn't protected under the DMCA when you unlock to lawfully connect to a wireless network. That's a pretty narrow rule, and it's most certainly not the same as a rule saying it's legal to unlock your cellphone.

Still more. Under the DMCA, the Copyright Office is allowed to make these exemptions, but they only last for three years. Since the unlocking rule was published in November of last year, that means it'll expire in November of 2009.

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DB pretty much covered the DMCA angle.

Unlocking/modifying an iPhone is most certainly a violation of the EULA though there has yet to be a court case that definitively shows that violating an EULA is breaking some law.

It's not realy illigal it's not like there going to take the phone from you, all that is possible is that the warrenty will be void.

try Ziphone to unlock, jailbreak, and activate! Search it in google and u'll find it! its the easiest way! Just plug ur iPhone to ur laptop and hit DO IT ALL or unlock, jailbreak, and activate and it will do it all! Use anySIM for SIM cards that are not AT&T

You don't want to use ziphone. it works, but it's very limited and you will have a useless phone with a vioded warranty once Apple sends out an update. Usually that's the case with any unlocker, but there is something far superior available that is updatable and fully reversable. It's called Pwnage. Look it up, and any of your other iPhone related questions at www.howardforums.com.

well obviously apple and at&t dont approve but screw that my friend gave me his iphone that had been activated for at&t and i used iClarified to unlock it in no more than 10 minutes after i downloaded the 4 things required..up and running on tmobile now

US Courts, all the way to the Supreme Court, have so far protected the right of US citizens to unlock their phones.

Now while it may be a violation of the EULA, no court to date has upheld that clause. At worst in the present time you just won't receive any support for your phone, it voids the warranty, and you risk bricking your phone if you ever update the software.

That doesn't mean in the future it won't be illegal, but as of today, there is no clarity in the law either way other than the fact that courts have so far sided with the right of the individual to unlock their phone.

Actually schweb, I was talking to an attorney from an IP firm recently and he was telling me that there have been a few isolated jurisdictions that have upheld license agreements as being contractual. While it is true that the vast majority have struck them down, we can't say that there has never been a court that has upheld an EULA. However, you are certainly correct that the unlocking of phones is perfectly legal.

I know this is an old thread, but to the OP, the reason we don't discuss these sort of things is not because they may or may not be illegal, but because they violate EULAs and discussing such things is against Mac-Forums rule #4.

Kash said:

I know this is an old thread, but to the OP, the reason we don't discuss these sort of things is not because they may or may not be illegal, but because they violate EULAs and discussing such things is against Mac-Forums rule #4.

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Change is in the wind my friend...

schweb said:

Change is in the wind my friend...

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Curious, because of the Psystar thing or something else?

From I understand, If you unlock an Iphone you can not use the updates, mac store, and is limited with other carriers. Is this correct ?

schweb said:

Change is in the wind my friend...

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I would love you forever and ever ;P

wsaund002 said:

From I understand, If you unlock an Iphone you can not use the updates, mac store, and is limited with other carriers. Is this correct ?

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Not true, you can do all that. Only thing you have to look out for is that firmware updates might brick your iPhone, so you have to restore the lock, upgrade the firmware, and then unlock it again. As for carriers, you can take it to any GSM carrier.

It's safe to say "Bricking" doesn't happen anymore the newer unlock methods designed by the Dev Team, do not brick phones any more. even an update in iTunes will only restore the iPhone not brick it.There was a risk of this with ZiPhone but Ziphone is obsolete and no longer compatible with firmware 2.0 and up. Even if one were to brick a simple restore in DFU mode will resolve the issue.

bargsbeer said:

It's safe to say "Bricking" doesn't happen anymore the newer unlock methods designed by the Dev Team, do not brick phones any more. even an update in iTunes will only restore the iPhone not brick it.There was a risk of this with ZiPhone but Ziphone is obsolete and no longer compatible with firmware 2.0 and up. Even if one were to brick a simple restore in DFU mode will resolve the issue.

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I'm not so sure I would agree with your statement.

Whenever you do something with your firmware/software/hardware that you're not supposed to be doing, there is always the risk that at some point something bad will happen.

Today, maybe Dev Team's method is safe, but there is no guarantee that will always be the case.

Moral of the story, if you're going to do something you're not supposed to do, there is always a potential risk and you need to accept that.

schweb said:

I'm not so sure I would agree with your statement.

Whenever you do something with your firmware/software/hardware that you're not supposed to be doing, there is always the risk that at some point something bad will happen.

Today, maybe Dev Team's method is safe, but there is no guarantee that will always be the case.

Moral of the story, if you're going to do something you're not supposed to do, there is always a potential risk and you need to accept that.

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Of course there is a risk. But I compare it more to the risk you take driving in a car and less to the risk you would take playing Russian roulette. I don't want to intimidate the guy into thinking he is going to kill his phone by jailbreaking or unlocking it.