WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today said that the cellphone unlocking bill passed the Senate last night by unanimous consent. The bipartisan bill would restore the ability of consumers to more easily transfer their cellphones to other wireless carriers.
Grassley, the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, cosponsored the bill with the committee’s Chairman, Patrick Leahy. The bill cleared the Judiciary Committee last week.
“Such quick consideration by the full Senate is almost unheard of, so it goes to show the bill’s direct impact on Americans. The bipartisan bill is pro-consumer and pro-competition. Ease in portability of devices will allow for more competition and more consumer choice,” Grassley said. “I’m hopeful that the House will take up and pass our bill promptly.”
Grassley and Leahy introduced the original bill on March 11, 2013. The Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act repeals the Library of Congress’s October 2012 rule that ended the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s exemption for cell phone unlocking and reinstates the Copyright Office rule as it previously existed for the last six years. That rule created a Digital Millennium Copyright Act exemption for users who unlock their cellphone after their contract terms of service expired. The bill also directs the Library of Congress, within one year, to undertake a new rulemaking proceeding to consider extending the exemption to other wireless devices, such as tablets.
A similar bill was introduced and passed in the House.
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