Congress Looking To Legalize Unlocking Cellphones

Get rid of silly, nonsensical copyright rules

Congress has finally thought up a bill to make it legal to unlock your cellphone again.

Called the Unlocking Technology Act, it has a simple goal: to fix that silly section of U.S. law that says it's actually a copyright violation to use your cellphone for a purpose besides what's intended by its manufacturers.

And it's backed by an Internet all-star team in the House. The bill was written by Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), known for asking Reddit for help in creating "Aaron's Law," in honor of the site's late cofounder, Aaron Swartz. It's also sponsored by two signers of the Declaration of Internet Freedom, Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.), as well as Thomas Massie (R-Ky.).