Publication Date
2008
Abstract
While consumers have a choice whether to purchase an iPhone, they have no choice in the wireless service provider that is linked to it. This is just one example of what has become a regular practice in the world of American cellular phones--cell phone locking. Today, modern American cell phone users stand at the mercy of wireless service providers. They are placed in this position in part because wireless service providers have had the inadvertent luxury of being overly protected by United States copyright law. As the law stands today, wireless service providers are not only free to lock handsets to their services, but also a wireless service provider is free to bring suit against any company that attempts to override these locks for a consumer's benefit. This Note expounds on the technicalities behind cellphone unlocking and addresses the relevant legal questions and arguments surrounding the Digital Millennium Copyright Act-the copyright legislation currently protecting cell phone locking-and the narrow exemption for certain cell phone unlockers. These questions and arguments are considered in light of earlier court cases both inside and outside the realm of wireless technology. Ultimately, this Note concludes that wireless service providers should no longer be able to misuse United States copyright law in order to lock their services to handsets so they can profit at the expense of individual users who are forced to accept limited choice and less provider competition.
Recommended Citation
Keenan, Tate M.
(2008)
"A Key to Unlocking Your iPhone: Eliminating Wireless Service Providers' Use of United States Copyright Law to Limit Consumer Choice and Provider Competition,"
Georgia Law Review: Vol. 43:
No.
1, Article 6.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/glr/vol43/iss1/6
Included in
Commercial Law Commons, Consumer Protection Law Commons, Intellectual Property Law Commons