Supreme Court OKs Cellphone Unlocking Suit

While by no means the final say, this ruling by the supreme court is good news for those who want to fight the locking of cell phones to a particular carrier.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday dashed a bid by T-Mobile and AT&T to stave off a class-action lawsuit challenging the carriers' policies against unlocking mobile phones.

The justices declined to review an October decision by the California Supreme Court that cleared the way for a lawsuit that attorneys claimed could represent "millions" of California customers.

Earlier this year Sprint and Verizon (CDMA Carriers) both agreed to give customers the unclock codes once they completed their contract. While this falls short of selling unlocked phones to begin with it's a step in the direction towards a user's ability do what he or she wants to a product they have purchased. In a similar move

Librarian of Congress James H. Billington listed cell phone unlocking as one of six new exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA.

Which means that unlocking your cell phone is no longer a violation of the DMCA, though the language is not clear on whether this means that cell phone carriers are required to unlock them.
Source: wired.com