The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday which would allow cell phones to be legally unlocked.
The House passed the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act (H.R. 1123) by a vote of 295-114, according to PC World.
The bill's passing means that it is a criminal offense to unlock a cell phone without permission, and offenders could face penalties as serious as jail time. The bill will let mobile users handle their phones so they are not tied to one carrier, RT reported. This lets users switch providers without having to buy a new phone.
A summary of the bill stated that while individual unlocking would be legal, it forbids bulk unlocking for the purpose of resale, CNET reported.
"This legislation allows any individual who wishes to unlock their cell phone for personal use to seek help from others without violating anti-circumvention provisions and clarifies that this bill does not permit the unlocking of cell phones for the purpose of bulk resale," the summary said.
Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act makes it illegal to unlock phones in the U.S., according to PC World. The DMCA was created to prevent copyright holders from getting robbed by piracy.
The prohibition of bulk unlocking has received criticism from consumer advocacy groups, according to CNET. The advocacy group called Public Knowledge said that "language recently added to the bill could be interpreted to make future unlocking efforts more difficult."
Electronic Frontier Foundation also stopped supporting the bill, CNET reported. The group said it, "sends two dangerous signals: (1) that Congress is OK with using copyright as an excuse to inhibit certain business models, even if the business isn't actually infringing on anyone's copyright; and (2) that Congress still doesn't understand the collateral damage Section 1201 [of the DMCA] is causing. For example, bulk unlocking not only benefits consumers, it's good for the environment- unlocking allows re-use, and that means less electronic waste."
According to Yahoo, it is not known yet if Senate will approve of the bill.
