EFF asks for public's help in fighting against locked phones

Has a locked cell phone ever frustrated you? The Electronic Frontier Foundation is now organizing consumers and software developers to tell their "real stories" on this subject to the US Copyright Office.

Under a new campaign, the EFF's FreeYourPhone.org is now soliciting petitions and other help from the public in its efforts to convince the Copyright Office to grant exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

"Hundreds of thousands of cell phone owners have modified their phones to connect to a new service provider or run the software of their choosing, and many more would like to. But the threat of litigation under the [DMCA] has driven them underground," the public interest group said in a statement.

The DMCA bans people from "circumventing" technical measures used for protecting copyrighted works. However, according to the EFF, many cell phone makers and service providers are putting locks on phones to protect their "business models," as opposed to copyrighted materials.

As one example, officials cite Apple's iPhone. "Apple locks its iPhone to AT&T and prevents users from installing any software that has not been pre-approved by Apple," contended EFF Senior Intellectual Property Attorney Fred von Lohmann.

The EFF also said it will help people submit "real stories about how these software locks frustrate consumers and developers" to the Copyright Office in time for the February 2 deadline for upcoming hearings.