iPhone Unlocking... Is it Illegal?

[legalhelp123]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Hello,
I am interested in selling UNLOCKED iPhones on eBay. However, I have heard that the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) has banned selling unlocked phones for profit in November of 2006. However, they had made an exception... you can unlock your phone solely for the purpose of connecting to a wireless telephone service... not to make profit. This law lasted three years, so it ended in November of 2009. I have yet to find an updated version.

The strange thing is that there are many websites selling unlocked phones for profit... tigerdirect.com etc. There are also many people selling unlocked phones on eBay. Is it legal now or is the DMCA really terrible at enforcing their own laws.

If it were still the same laws. Would it be illegal to sell with the purchase a DVD that explained how to unlock it. Also giving in the eBay description a disclaimer about the law and saying to use it for solely connecting to a wireless telephone network. Any legal help is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[FlyingRon]

If you mean unlocked, i.e., the AT&T subsidy lock has been broken so they can move to other carriers, I don't think so. It's quite possible that these aren't US Iphones to begin with, they could be european models. Breaking the subsidy lock on phones (even if had to be broken) is not a DMCA violation.

Now if you are talking about "jailbroken" phones that allow software to be loaded other than through the AppStore, then you're in more of a gray area. It's certainly a violation of your Apple software license and you risk not getting any support or possibly getting screwed on a software update? DMCA violation? Possibly, but it's a stretch. It would have to be shown that you're trying to defeat copyright restrictions which jailbraking in itself doesn't necessarily mean (now if you were using it to steal apps you didn't pay for, perhaps).