Activists seek to restore right to unlock cellphone

Organizers behind a petition asking President Barack Obama to rescind a federal rule that makes it illegal for consumers to unlock their cellphones say they hope to match the success of the grass-roots campaign that derailed the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act.

Unlocking a cellphone refers to the ability for a consumer to activate a handset on more than one carrier network. That can come in handy when traveling overseas, allowing you to use a local network instead of paying expensive roaming charges to AT&T or Verizon. And the ability to unlock a handset enables you to easily switch service to a competing carrier, so you aren't stuck with a paid-for handset that can never be used on another network. Activists in January 2012 blocked SOPA and a companion anti-piracy bill claiming the bills were intended to protect big media companies and would gut the Internet and stifle free speech. Derek Khanna, a former congressional aide and Yale law student, contends that the right to unlock one's cellphone is a comparable issue.