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NEWS 
Federal Communications Commission 

News Media Information 202 / 418-0500

445 12th Street, S.W. 
 Internet: 
http://www.fcc.gov

Washington, D. C.  20554 

TTY: 1-888-835-5322

 
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action.  Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action. 
See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974). 
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: 

March 11, 2013 
Matthew Berry, 202-418-2005 
 Email: 
matthew.berry@fcc.gov 
 
 

STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER AJIT PAI 

ON UNLOCKING CELL PHONES 

American consumers should not face jail time for unlocking their cell phones.  This should not be 
a matter of criminal or copyright law.  Instead, it should be addressed by contract law.  If a consumer is 
not bound by a contract, he or she should be able to unlock his or her phone. 
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), as it pertains to this issue, unnecessarily 
restricts consumer choice and is a case of the government going too far.  Fortunately, there’s a simple 
solution: a permanent exemption from the DMCA for consumers who unlock their mobile devices.  I 
commend the bipartisan efforts already underway to address this problem, and I hope it will be solved 
expeditiously. 
 

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