Bell Nunnally attorney Danica Mathes authored the article “Why Can A Librarian Make Unlocking Cellphones Illegal?,” which was published in the Expert Analysis column in the March 5, 2013, editions of Law360 and Intellectual Property Law360. In the piece, Mathes explores the issues surrounding the legality of “unlocking” of cell phones purchased by consumers from mobile phone providers (which would enable a consumer to resell a handset and/or switch carriers).
On Jan. 26, the Librarian of Congress – who is tasked every three years (upon the recommendation of the Register of Copyrights) to consider exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) prohibitions on circumvention of digital locks that restrict access to works protected under the U.S. Copyright Act – deemed it illegal for consumers to unlock cell phones originally purchased from providers without first obtaining the originating provider’s approval. This was a change from previous rulings issued in both 2006 and 2010.
Mathes details the intent of the DMCA, the role given to the Library of Congress, and what this current change means for both providers and consumers. She then explores the White House’s response agreeing in part with a citizen-initiated petition asking that the unlocking of cell phones be exempt from the copyright protection provided by the DMCA. Mathes concludes by positing that the time may have come for Congress to review the DMCA.
Full text of the article can be found here.
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