Cellphone manufacturers use locked software to stifle competition and restrict consumers:

  • Apple uses software locks on the iPhone to censor ebooks and block mobile applications that would compete with Apple's own software.
  • T-Mobile's software locks prevent owners from gaining root access to the Google Android G1 phone, needlessly limiting the phone's bluetooth and other capabilities.
  • And virtually every mobile device sold today is locked to a single telecommunications carrier.

Hundreds of thousands of cellphone owners have modified their phones to connect to the network or run the software of their choosing, and many more would like to. But the Digital Millennium Copyright Act poses a legal threat to phone users, even though the law was supposed to protect copyright owners and distributors of digital music and movies. This threat of litigation has driven consumers underground, stifling innovation and competition.

Now, you can support EFF's request that the Copyright Office grant an exemption to the DMCA that will protect phone users. Sign below to add your name to EFF's request to the copyright office. Then, on the next page, you can share a story about how these restrictions have affected you personally.

Tell the Copyright Office to free your phone!