House Passes Phone Unlocking Bill

Rejoice, those who spend their days scouring eBay for unlocked phones. On Tuesday, the House passed a bill to legalize cellphone unlocking, allowing customers to switch between providers without changing devices. The legislation has a clause that will still ban bulk unlocking. Meanwhile, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy has introduced a similar bill, which might not include a ban on bulk unlocking. Since 2012, a rule from the Library of Congress—as part of a federal digital copyright decision—has required customers to get permission from service providers to unlock their phones.