Intellectual Property (IP), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Open Movements (OM)

Issues and developments related to IP, AI, and OM, examined in the IP and tech ethics graduate courses I teach at the University of Pittsburgh School of Computing and Information. My Bloomsbury book "Ethics, Information, and Technology", coming in Summer 2025, includes major chapters on IP, AI, OM, and other emerging technologies (IoT, drones, robots, autonomous vehicles, VR/AR). Kip Currier, PhD, JD

Showing posts with label Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act set to become law. Show all posts

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Bill to Legalize Unlocking Cellphones Passes Congress; New York Times, 7/25/14

Nick Wingfield, New York Times; Bill to Legalize Unlocking Cellphones Passes Congress:

"On Friday, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would make it legal for consumers to open the digital locks on their cellphones so that they could more easily switch wireless carriers. The Senate has already passed the bill. Under a law intended to prevent copyright infringement, consumers now risk fines of up to $500,000 and five years in jail if they unlock their cellphones without the consent of their wireless carriers.
The restrictions against unlocking are deeply unpopular with the public...
Cellphone unlocking was actually legal until last year, when an earlier exemption to copyright laws granted by the Library of Congress, the overseer of the United States Copyright Office, expired...
President Obama, in a statement on Friday, said he looked forward to signing the bill, called the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, into law."