Pinned in this thread
The Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act was enacted on August 1, 2014.
The current federal exemption allows circumvention to let a wireless device connect to a network when the network operator authorizes the connection.
The owner, someone acting at the owner’s direction, or a wireless carrier at the owner’s direction may do the unlocking.
Unlocking a phone sounds like a purely technical step, but for a while it was a legal question. The answer today is clear: the owner of a phone may unlock it to use it on another network that allows it. The path to that answer explains why the rules look the way they do.
Why copyright law is involved
The software that locks a phone to a carrier is protected by a section of copyright law, section 1201 of Title 17 of the U.S. Code, added by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It generally forbids getting around technological measures that control access to copyrighted works, and phone software counts. Every three years, the Librarian of Congress, on the recommendation of the Register of Copyrights, can grant exemptions for particular uses. Those exemptions are listed in federal regulations at 37 CFR 201.40.
For years, an exemption covered phone unlocking. The Librarian of Congress revised it in a rulemaking dated October 28, 2012, and the change drew enough public objection to reach Congress.
Congress steps in
The Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act was enacted on August 1, 2014. It did two main things:
- It declared the 2012 version of the unlocking exemption to have no force and effect, and put back the version in effect on July 27, 2010, as of the day the Act became law.
- It directed the Librarian of Congress, on the Register’s recommendation and after consulting the Commerce Department’s telecommunications agency, to decide in the next rulemaking whether to extend the exemption to other kinds of wireless devices besides phones.
The law also said who may do the unlocking: the owner of the phone, another person at the owner’s direction, or a wireless carrier at the owner’s direction, so the owner or a family member can connect to a network.
The exemption today
The current version of the regulation, last amended in October 2024, exempts computer programs that enable wireless devices to connect to a wireless telecommunications network, when the circumvention is done solely to connect to a network and the connection is authorized by the operator of that network.
Two parts of that sentence matter:
| Phrase | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| “Wireless devices” | Not just phones; tablets and other cellular devices are covered |
| “Authorized by the operator” | The new carrier must allow the device on its network; unlocking does not force a carrier to accept a phone |
The regulation also repeats the rule from the 2014 Act about who may do it: the owner, someone acting at the owner’s direction, or a carrier at the owner’s direction, so the owner or a family member can connect.
Exemptions are renewed every three years
The Copyright Office runs a new rulemaking every three years. It says it has started its tenth such proceeding and uses a streamlined process to renew existing exemptions; renewed exemptions stay in force for another three years, from October 2027 to October 2030. The regulation’s history shows it was last amended in October 2024.
Buying a phone sold as unlocked
When you buy a used phone advertised as unlocked, the legal question is settled, but the practical one is not. Test it with your own SIM or eSIM before you pay, and ask which carrier it was originally sold by. If it turns out to be locked, the seller, not you, is the one who can ask that carrier to unlock it as the owner of record. See Checking a Used Phone Before You Buy: A Practical Checklist.
Legal is not the same as free
Copyright law says you may unlock a phone you own. It does not make the carrier unlock it on your schedule or for free. Carrier unlocking policies, the industry’s voluntary commitments and FCC rules decide when the carrier must help; see How Phone Unlocking Works: Postpaid, Prepaid and the Waiting Period. And a phone that is not paid off belongs, in practice, to a financing agreement you still have to honor.
Tip: Unlock through the carrier when you can. It is the simplest route, it is free for eligible customers under the industry commitments, and it avoids the risk of third-party tools that may not work or may come from questionable sellers.
Repair is covered too
The same regulation now includes an exemption for repair. It allows getting around software locks on a lawfully acquired device primarily designed for consumers when that is a necessary step to diagnose, maintain or repair it, and not done to access other copyrighted works. The regulation defines repair as restoring the device to work according to its original specifications. That supports the independent repair rights discussed in Right to Repair and Your Phone: What Federal and State Law Says.
The bottom line
If you own your phone, you may unlock it so it can work on another carrier’s network that accepts it, and you can ask someone else, including a carrier, to do it for you. Congress settled the question in 2014, and the Copyright Office has kept the exemption in place since. What remains is the practical side: paying off the phone and asking your carrier.