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Is unlocking an iPhone illegal in the UK?

sk8mash

sk8mash

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 1, 2007
953
110
England
I googled it and most people seem to think its not, but I am just asking because the other day I went into O2 and bought an iPhone, no questioned asked, but had to pay by credit card.

Today I went to a different O2 shop to buy another iPhone. They once again wouldn't let me pay by cash, so I paid by card, a different one than before. this time though, the guy asked me all sorts of questions, including my address, phone number, post code, email address, and who the phone would be registered to. I was planning on selling it on eBay, so I said it was a gift for a friend.

Am I doing anything naughty? I haven't unwrapped the second iPhone yet, so I could just return it.

Thanks.
 
No you haven't done anything naughty.

They just want to know if the cheaper iPhones mean more contracts.

Is it illegal? I don't know but it doesn't matter as no one will know - the worst case scenario is you break your phone and O2/Apple won't give you a warranty.
 
So it seems like it isn't legal...but it just seems weird that o2 sell you the phone expecting you to start a contract with them, but will they be able to tell if you don't?
 
I guess, in principle, if you buy the phone in a way which identifies you to the seller, you may be traceable in a personal way (i.e. O2 already knows how many phones are not activated, because they know how many are sold and how many are activated; however, if you identify yourself at PoS), you could possibly be traced back to the phone. But I would consider that scenario pretty unlikely.

In the US, for comparison purposes, I guess, the situation as it's generally accepted (but not legally tested to date) to be is that it's:

- Legal for a user to unlock a phone in order to use it on a competitor network (this is explicit)
- Not necessarily legal to create or sell unlocking software (the law is silent on this issue, but the DMCA
- Also not necessarily (and slightly less likely to be) legal to create or sell software that circumvents mechanisms to prevent modification of the phone in other ways (e.g. jailbreaking). This point is questionable, since the DMCA primarily addresses circumventing copy protection or DRM, and jailbreaking does not do this.

The latter two really haven't been tested adequately legally. There is no explicit waiver to the DMCA here that allows someone to create this software, even though its usage is covered by an explicit exemption. So there are a lot of grey areas.

But those areas are definitely grey, unlike, say, the situation with Napster and Limewire, where what is being done clearly fulfills neither the spirit nor the letter of the law in any imaginable way.

Disclaimer: All of this is speculative....
 
oh right, so no one really knows...?

I guess if I was ever chased up for not having a contract, I could just say i haven't activated them yet...

Has anyone ever been prosecuted by O2 for buying a contract phone, then not fulfilling the contract?
 
If you have not activated via iTunes, you have not entered into any contract with O2. What could anyone prosecute you with?

All you have is the (theoretically useless) hardware purchased from Apple and sold through a dealer. Sounds like a fulfilled purchase contract to me, as long as your credit card issuer honours the amount charged.
 
It still is unclear whether it is legal in the United Kingdom.

We all know that it's legal in the United States due to the DMCA...but what about other countries?
 
sk8mash said:
all sorts of questions, including my address, phone number, post code, email address, and who the phone would be registered to
Click to expand...

Keep your phone mate.

First of all, they won't take you to court or to the nearest police station because they've just discovered that you're not using O2 (even though you breathe it) on your iPhone. They won't even confiscate your phone, don't worry :p

Secondly if they decided to void your warranty by saying that you have breached the terms and conditions, you take them to court by asking you all personal details as mentioned above for offending/intruding your privacy and personal data. In the UK there's some kinda personal information act rectified in 1998. :D Plus, it's your own iPhone, you can do anything you like to it. It's up to you if you want to unlock your iPhone or not, like it' up to you if you want to shower in bottled water instead of drinking it. It's a free country and it's a democratic society. Bring in the Bills of Rights and whatever nonsense that you thought were useless.

I suggest you return the phone and purchase another one at a different store. Tell them that they are being rude and "spying" on you by collecting your personal data and they might use the information for marketing purposes or sending it to third parties without your permission. Also mention that you are "bitterly disappointed" by the people who served you last time and that you "were not brought up with a background like this to treat people". They will eat the iPhone and choke up your money. However, you just gotta have experience to do this :)

So to sum things up, if you want to keep your warranty, do a restore and if you've modified stuff like the bootloader you gotta change it back to the original before sending it in for repairs. And, they won't arrest you for not staying with O2. Lastly, customers are always right.

For me, I would return the phone, because the new version will be out by June/July. So it's not worth it for me...

P.S. This article was written in a tongue-in-cheek style. So yeah... do what you think it's best :)
 
Unlocking modifies baseband which survives restore...lol. You'd have to relock the baseband.



Anyway, you can't really take them to court for warranty. Even though you might win, the court cannot FORCE Apple to service your iPhone.

Besides, when you buy the iPhone, you're already agreeing to the terms. Any violation of the terms, while they can't take you to court, can void the warranty (as stated in the terms which you agreed to upon buying the iPhone).

It's like if you opened the iPhone and added a CMDA radio to it...you can't take Apple to court and FORCE them to repair it.
 
sk8mash said:
Has anyone ever been prosecuted by O2 for buying a contract phone, then not fulfilling the contract?
Click to expand...

Oooh, if you don't take out the contract that may be illegal, but if it isn't required to get the phone and leave the shop I don't think thats enforceable as you haven't agreed to the contract.

Niiro13 said:
Anyway, you can't really take them to court for warranty.
Click to expand...

Yes you can, its probably breaking the Sale of Goods Act. But you may be right on this as you are "modifying" it.

Niiro13 said:
Even though you might win, the court cannot FORCE Apple to service your iPhone.
Click to expand...

They essentially can, they could ban Apple from doing business in the UK if needed.
 
apple will honour your warranty whether you activate it or not. That's in their own t&c. In terms of legality, if the phone was subsidised then I may side with 02, but let us not forget, even with discounts, its still a lot of money.
 
This is the most pointless conversation ever...

People unlock phones all the time even in the UK.

O2 are none the wiser and any other network don't care if your using an iPhone as they are getting your money.

So it really doesn't make any difference.

I would be more worried about the music your downloading without paying than the fact you unlocked your iphone!
 
All good points guys, thanks!

When I asked the guy why he wanted all my personal details he said it was because "O2 have a strict policy on how many iPhones can be purchased per person" All the information I gave them was printed on my receipt, whereas there was nothing on the receipt at the shop which didn't ask for any personal info. its just the fact that they know that I bought the phone and everything about me. Just made me think...
 
spinstorm said:
I would be more worried about the music your downloading without paying than the fact you unlocked your iphone!
Click to expand...

Nope, the goverment are not going to spy on the internet connectins until April 2009, so a lot of music downloading to come ;)

Unlocking a phone is not illegal, when you buy the phone you have no obligation to use it with O2, because you havent done the contract yet, you do the contract on iTunes when you activate it, and as you are unlocking it you wont be doing that, will you?

If unlocking phones was illegal, all the shops and stalls with huge "MOBILE PHONE UNLOCKING" signs will have been closed down a long time ago...
 
PowerFullMac said:
Nope, the goverment are not going to spy on the internet connectins until April 2009, so a lot of music downloading to come ;)

Unlocking a phone is not illegal, when you buy the phone you have no obligation to use it with O2, because you havent done the contract yet, you do the contract on iTunes when you activate it, and as you are unlocking it you wont be doing that, will you?

If unlocking phones was illegal, all the shops and stalls with huge "MOBILE PHONE UNLOCKING" signs will have been closed down a long time ago...
Click to expand...

Yeah, but the iPhone feels a little different because its the only contract phone that you can walk into a shop and buy without a contract.
 
Nic10 said:
couldnt o2 decide to block the IMEI of phones not activated?
Click to expand...

I dont think they could, because whos to say that you havnt taken advantage of the low iphone price, but dont want to activate it for two years because you want to wait for your contract to run out?
 
Nic10 said:
couldnt o2 decide to block the IMEI of phones not activated?
Click to expand...

Nope...that would then make the phone "not fit for the purpose for which it was sold" and contrary to the Sale of Goods act. They would then be liable for replacing the iphone for one that wasn't blocked.
 
PowerFullMac said:
Nope, the goverment are not going to spy on the internet connectins until April 2009
Click to expand...

What!? Is this implemented in the UK? When and any details I can read ...iSamurai suddenly freaks out... na, just joking.

Nic10 said:
couldnt o2 decide to block the IMEI of phones not activated?
Click to expand...

Block!? Are you kidding me? Because if they block me, I'll block them from doing business in court for obstructing, hindering my rights to use a product i purchased rightfully. Therefore this is an act of obscurity and is an offence to my rights of basic living. I will, not be tolerating such irresponsible decision. Oh well, I guess O2 will just lose the court case and I'll get a crate of iPhones for compensation ;) You will also see some mass action from iPhone users for tampering their will of choosing which carrier they want and this is therefore monopolistic.
 
I am nost sure about the UK, but, I found the following website that discussed the legality in the UK.
http://www.iphonefreestyler.com/?page_id=11

It specifically says:
Please let me explain because there are a lot of legal issues surrounding unlocking, but the most applicable law in the US is everyone’s favorite piece of legislation, the DMCA. Just like any other piece of code, the iPhone’s firmware is protected by the Copyright Act, and circumventing the access controls in place to get at that code is a violation of the DMCA. However, the Copyright Office issued six exemptions to the DMCA last year, one of which allows consumers to unlock their cellphones “for the sole purpose of lawfully connecting to a wireless telephone communication network.”
Click to expand...

Quite interesting.

JF
 
iSamurai said:
Block!? Are you kidding me? Because if they block me, I'll block them from doing business in court for obstructing, hindering my rights to use a product i purchased rightfully. Therefore this is an act of obscurity and is an offence to my rights of basic living. I will, not be tolerating such irresponsible decision. Oh well, I guess O2 will just lose the court case and I'll get a crate of iPhones for compensation ;) You will also see some mass action from iPhone users for tampering their will of choosing which carrier they want and this is therefore monopolistic.
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure because the device is sold locked. So O2 could say that unactivated devices are not being used so blocking those IMEIs would have no impact on people until they activate. At the time of activation the block could be lifted. Everyone with hacked phones would have expensive ipod touches. I imagine this would be similar to how stolen phones are blocked based on the IMEI.

I bought one that had a visibly faulty screen. So I relocked it using bootneuter and restored it to apple's 1.1.4. I returned to the shop and they replaced it. However they took my name and address for the exchange.

Will I be getting a call in a few months asking why I haven't activated?
 
sk8mash said:
I dont think they could, because whos to say that you havnt taken advantage of the low iphone price, but dont want to activate it for two years because you want to wait for your contract to run out?
Click to expand...

This doesn't make sense.

If you haven't activated it then there is no contract. The clock starts ticking once you activate and sign up.
 
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