![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thatcrazycajunOne of the biggest knocks against Apple Inc.'s much-ballyhooed iPhone is its being "locked in" to AT&T's cellular network. This means users who pony up the five or six C-notes required to purchase one have two problems: (a) no freedom of choice about which provider to use with it (a big issue for users already contracted to one of AT&T's competitors, such as Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile or Verizon Wireless, who cannot switch without triggering hefty early-termination penalty fees) and (b) being stuck with AT&T's comparatively slower-speed EDGE network for data transmission, rather than being able to access networks using the more modern and speedier (but less widely available) 3G standard. Evidently, Steve Jobs & Co. decided that having a signal, even a slower one, in more locations was better than higher speed but spottier access. (Insiders at Apple have claimed--anonymously, natch--that the next generation iPhone will give users 3G access.)
Now word has come of the existence of software hacks to break Ma Bell's lock on the iPhone, from two sources: a New Jersey teenager who has already been offered a lucrative job teaching such hacks to cellphone techs, and a company that sells software to break the lock--or will if it can get past high-powered lawyers for both AT&T and Apple, who are working overtime to put the kibosh on both schemes. Both sides are citing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act as backing for their positions, Apple and AT&T for illegal breaching of software protection measures and the hackers for exemptions to the DMCA announced last year by the U.S. Copyright Office. Based on coverage I've read so far, it looks very much like, one way or another, more and more iPhone owners will very soon be able to take their expensive new toys and go play on more than one network, and say "buh-bye" to AT&T.
osewalrus, you're the resident telecom legal eagle on my f-list; any thoughts? Anyone else? (My interest is purely academic; longtime Mac nut/Apple fan though I am, I'm not planning to splurge on an iPhone, unlocked or not, anytime soon -- my trusty little Motorola TracFone works just fine, thank you.)
Now word has come of the existence of software hacks to break Ma Bell's lock on the iPhone, from two sources: a New Jersey teenager who has already been offered a lucrative job teaching such hacks to cellphone techs, and a company that sells software to break the lock--or will if it can get past high-powered lawyers for both AT&T and Apple, who are working overtime to put the kibosh on both schemes. Both sides are citing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act as backing for their positions, Apple and AT&T for illegal breaching of software protection measures and the hackers for exemptions to the DMCA announced last year by the U.S. Copyright Office. Based on coverage I've read so far, it looks very much like, one way or another, more and more iPhone owners will very soon be able to take their expensive new toys and go play on more than one network, and say "buh-bye" to AT&T.
osewalrus, you're the resident telecom legal eagle on my f-list; any thoughts? Anyone else? (My interest is purely academic; longtime Mac nut/Apple fan though I am, I'm not planning to splurge on an iPhone, unlocked or not, anytime soon -- my trusty little Motorola TracFone works just fine, thank you.)