Recently, it was decided that unlocking your phone was a violation of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act for some bizarre, not entirely coherent, reason. The good news is that a We The People petition to the White House has yielded an official response. The bad news is that it, uh, kinda does crap beyond that.
On the We The People blog, R. David Edelman, one of the White House’s tech honchos states that:
It’s common sense, crucial for protecting consumer choice, and important for ensuring we continue to have the vibrant, competitive wireless market that delivers innovative products and solid service to meet consumers’ needs.
Unfortunately, he immediately follows that up with:
The Obama Administration would support a range of approaches to addressing this issue, including narrow legislative fixes… We also believe the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), with its responsibility for promoting mobile competition and innovation, has an important role to play here. … Finally, we would encourage mobile providers to consider what steps they as businesses can take to ensure that their customers can fully reap the benefits and features they expect when purchasing their devices.
In other words, basically the White House thinks it’s a really good idea, but they don’t get to decide anything until Congress or some bureaucratic agency does something, so thanks for writing and have a sucker.
Well, at least the President is behind the idea.