No it is definitely not illegal. Once you own the phone you can do anything you want with it. 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 phone'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.
But the answer is no, it's not illegal as long as you want to unlock it to use it with another provider, that is totally within your legal rights.
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Answers & Comments
No it is definitely not illegal. Once you own the phone you can do anything you want with it. 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 phone'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.
But the answer is no, it's not illegal as long as you want to unlock it to use it with another provider, that is totally within your legal rights.
Please make sure you rate my answer 4 thumbs up, it is extremely important to me. I would be forever grateful if you could do so. If you need more help on this question please just respond to my answer here and I will get right back to you.
Thanks
Tim