The Legality of Unlocking Your Cell Phone: DMCA Section 1201 and the Exemption

62 questions on the legality of unlocking your cell phone, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Are there criminal penalties for violating the DMCA's anti-circumvention rule?
• Can a business legally offer phone-unlocking services to the public?
• Can a triennial exemption make circumvention tools legal?
• Can I unlock a phone I am still paying off under an installment plan?
• Can you violate the DMCA's anti-circumvention rule without infringing any copyright?
• Did the 2014 Act address the problem that exemptions cannot cover unlocking tools?
• Does an exemption to Section 1201 also protect fair use?
• Does a technological measure stop being “effective” if circumvention tools are widely available?
• Does the DMCA answer whether unlocking breaches my carrier contract?
• Does unlocking or jailbreaking void my warranty?
• Do I have to worry about the unlocking exemption lapsing again every three years?
• Has the unlocking exemption been renewed since 2014?
• How did the White House and the FCC respond to the unlocking controversy?
• How does a carrier lock become a copyright issue at all?
• How does phone unlocking connect to the right-to-repair movement?
• How does the Chamberlain/MDY split affect independent repair shops?
• How does the Chamberlain/MDY split affect phone unlocking?
• How large can DMCA per-act statutory damages get in practice?
• If I have a fully paid-off phone, is unlocking clear on every front?
• Is it legal to unlock a phone before an international trip?
• Is it legal to unlock my cell phone?
• Is jailbreaking an iPhone legal?
• Is rooting an Android phone legal?
• Is there a circuit split over whether circumvention must relate to copyright infringement?
• Is there an innocent-violator defense to DMCA damages?
• Wasn't phone unlocking made illegal at some point?
• Were people actually prosecuted for unlocking phones in 2013?
• What are the carrier unlocking principles?
• What are the two different prohibitions in Section 1201?
• What civil damages does the DMCA allow for circumvention?
• What conditions must be met to rely on the Section 1201(f) interoperability exemption?
• What did Chamberlain v. Skylink hold about the DMCA?
• What did MDY Industries v. Blizzard Entertainment hold?
• What did the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act of 2014 do?
• What does it mean to “circumvent” a technological measure under the DMCA?
• What does the phone unlocking saga teach about broadly worded statutes?
• What does the unlocking episode reveal about administrative safety valves?
• What does unlocking a phone actually do?
• What is a carrier lock on a cell phone?
• What is Section 1201 of the DMCA?
• What is the difference between owning a device and controlling it?
• What is the difference between unlocking, jailbreaking, and rooting?
• What is the DMCA triennial rulemaking?
• What is the nexus requirement under the DMCA and which courts follow it?
• What is the policy debate over Section 1201?
• What is the Section 1201(f) interoperability exemption?
• What is the single most important takeaway about phone unlocking today?
• What is the streamlined renewal process for DMCA exemptions?
• What permanent exemptions did Congress build into Section 1201?
• What practical risks come with rooting an Android phone?
• What should I check before unlocking, jailbreaking, or rooting a device?
• What was the White House petition that changed the unlocking law?
• What were the first major cases decided under the DMCA's anti-circumvention rule?
• When did the Copyright Office first grant a cell phone unlocking exemption?
• Which part of the DMCA covers takedown notices, and is it the same as the anti-circumvention rule?
• Who bears the burden of proof in a DMCA exemption proceeding?
• Why are DMCA exemptions temporary, and why does that matter?
• Why did the Copyright Office let the unlocking exemption lapse in 2012?
• Why does the DMCA ban circumventing access controls but not copy controls?
• Why is Section 1201(f) sturdier than a triennial exemption?
• Why was phone unlocking such an awkward fit for the DMCA?
• Why would I want to unlock my phone?