U.S. consumers can legally unlock their phones

Under the new copyright rules, consumers in the United States will be able to legally break software locks on their phones in order to use them with other competing carriers. In a plain English – once your contract with a carrier expires, you are free to take the (Symbian) phone on some other carrier.

Fred von Lohmann, an attorney with the civil-liberties group Electronic Frontier Foundation is surprised and pleased. “I am very encouraged by the fact that the Copyright Office is willing to recognize exemptions for archivists, cell phone recyclers and computer security experts”, he added.

The new rules will take effect Monday and expire in three years… Wonder when will this hit Europe? (source: AP)