It works and it is free.

*thumbs up*

http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/14724/

As per the US copy right office.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061124-8280.html

“Exemptions are allowed for: cell phone firmware that ties a phone to a specific wireless network”

“The provision likely to be of most interest to consumers is the one allowing cell phones to be unlocked and used on other networks. The Copyright Office allowed this exception because the software that prohibits users from accessing their phone’s firmware has little to do with copyright and much to do with a business model. “The underlying activity sought to be performed by the owner of the handset is to allow the handset to do what it was manufactured to do—lawfully connect to any carrier,” writes the government in explanation. “This is a noninfringing activity by the user… The purpose of the software lock appears to be limited to restricting the owner’s use of the mobile handset to support a business model, rather than to protect access to a copyrighted work itself.”

Hope the FCC would take this a step further and outlaw service providers locking consumer wireless devices, taking away consumer freedom.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/11/unlocked_cells.html

“By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.Com

November 25, 2006
Of the many ways cell phone carriers gouge consumers, one of the most egregious is making it impossible to take your phone with you when you switch to a new provider.

Moving your phone between carriers has been considered an infringement of the old carrier’s property rights, so customers were forced to turn in or junk their old phones, and pay all sorts of extra fees to get a new phone along with their new plan.

But beginning in December, U.S. copyright law provides an exemption for consumers who want to “unlock” their cellphones and take them along when switching providers.

The exemption was one of six announced as part of regular revisions to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA), the 800-pound-gorilla of technology-related copyright law in the U.S.

The ruling by the U.S. Copyright Office stated that the “software lock” preventing customers from using the same phone with different carriers “appears to be limited to restricting the owner’s use of the mobile handset to support a business model, rather than to protect access to a copyrighted work itself.”

“The underlying activity sought to be performed by the owner of the handset is to allow the handset to do what it was manufactured to do — lawfully connect to any carrier. This is a noninfringing activity by the user,” said Chief Register Marybeth Peters.

Wireless carriers typically lure customers with the promise of rebates and instant savings for new phones, but only if they sign multi-year contracts with heavy termination fees. The new phone also often comes with a “handset activation fee,” which negates much of the customers’ savings.

Unlocked phones that are not attached to any carrier are often prohibitively expensive, sometimes costing double what they would with a new carrier contract.

Selling unlocked cellphones on auction sites such as eBay has been a booming “grey market,” and has earned the wrath of the wireless industry. Wireless lobby association CTIA and prepaid phone company TracFone both submitted unsolicited statements opposing the exemption.

The Register’s office criticized CTIA and TracFone for not submitting their statements in the time allowed.

“Not only would acceptance of the late filings wreak havoc on the decisionmaking process, but it also would be fundamentally unfair to the parties who have made timely submissions, and in particular to the proponents of the exemption.”

The exemption for unlocked cellphones will last three years, until the next time the Copyright Office reexamines the DMCA for potential new exemptions.

Supporters of the exemptions are pinning their hopes on the new Democratic Congress supporting legislation to reform the DMCA and make the exemptions permanent, although the Democratic record of appeasing the telecommunications industry is not less unseemly than the GOP’s.”

“Exemptions are allowed for 1) the educational library of a university’s media studies department, in order to watch film clips in class; 2) using computer software that requires the original disks or hardware in order to run; 3) dongle-protected computer programs, if the the dongle no longer functions and a replacement cannot be found; 4) protected e-books, in order to use screen-reader software; 5) cell phone firmware that ties a phone to a specific wireless network; and 6) DRM software included on audio CDs, but only when such software creates security vulnerabilities on personal computers.”

Hack away guys.