Today, Jennifer Granick filed comments on behalf of mobile phone customer Robert Pinkerton, and phone recycler and refurbisher The Wireless Alliance asking the Copyright Office to issue an exemption to the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
The comments argue that mobile communications providers are using software locks to control customer access to mobile phone operating software embedded inside the devices. These locks prevent customers from using their handsets on a competitor’s network. Customers who want to use their handsets on a different network must circumvent the locking software to access the computer program that allows the phone to operate (mobile firmware). Mobile providers can use 17 U.S.C. section 1201(a) to stop customers from selecting a provider of their choice, resulting in poorer service and higher costs for customers, reduced competition contrary to explicit U.S. policy, and environmental disaster as a result of mobile handset waste. Locked phones also contribute to the problem of the digital divide between rich and poorer nations. For these reasons, an exemption should be granted. For more, download the file.