More than the required 100,000 people have signed an online petition asking the Obama administration to ask the Librarian of Congress to rescind the ruling that made unlocking a cell phone illegal.
The Librarian of Congress ruled in October 2012 that as of Jan. 26, 2013, unlocking cell phones would no longer be a part of the exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA. As of this afternoon, the number of signatures to the petition has passed 108,000. That means the administration will issue a response to it.
The petition states that a locked cell phone would force consumers "to pay exorbitant roaming fees to make calls while traveling abroad. It reduces consumer choice, and decreases the resale value of devices that consumers have paid for in full."
It requests that "the White House ask the Librarian of Congress to rescind this decision, and failing that, champion a bill that makes unlocking permanently legal."
The petition, which was created on Jan. 24, reached its goal just before the Feb.23 deadline.
