Editing SIM lock (section)

=== United States ===
One of the two [[United States|American]] GSM carriers, [[T-Mobile US|T-Mobile]],<ref>{{cite web | url=http://support.t-mobile.com/doc/tm51885.xml | title=SIM Unlock your phone &#124; Support | publisher=Support.t-mobile.com | access-date=2013-06-21}}</ref> will unlock handsets for those with active account in good standing for at least 40 days and no unlock code request in the last 90 days. The other, [[AT&T Mobility]], is required to do so upon request (with some exceptions and requirements) after ninety days of active service under the terms of a [[class action]] settlement.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100601215556/http://www.attlockinglawsuits.com/pdf/meolinot.pdf Article title]}} (Archived by WebCite® at https://www.webcitation.org/67XpFxapm)</ref> Prior to the settlement, AT&T would<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/28/AR2008052803089.html | newspaper=The Washington Post | title=It's Not The Money, Can You Hear Me? | first=Rob | last=Pegoraro | date=2008-05-29 | access-date=2010-05-23}}</ref> usually do so once one has concluded their contract, and in some other situations. <!--<s>Neither carrier is compelled to unlock phones by any law or regulation</s>, and they may choose not to unlock certain phones.{{Citation needed|date=May 2012}}--> AT&T had in the past stated that it would not unlock iPhones under any circumstances, regardless of the legality of doing so, even after customers are out of contract. However, AT&T has since announced that starting April 8, 2012, it will begin unlocking off-contract iPhones, provided that the customer's account is in good standing.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.macrumors.com/2012/04/06/att-will-unlock-off-contract-iphones-starting-sunday-april-8/ | title=AT&T Will Unlock Off-Contract iPhones Starting Sunday, April 8 | first=Jordan | last=Golson | publisher=MacRumors.com | date=April 6, 2012 | access-date=April 11, 2012}}</ref> AT&T also has an unannounced policy of unlocking iPhones for [[United States Armed Forces|United States service members]] who are deployed overseas—even if they are still under contract.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.macrumors.com/2012/04/09/att-unlocking-in-contract-iphones-for-deployed-service-members/ | title=AT&T Unlocking In-Contract iPhones for Deployed Service Members | first=Jordan | last=Golson | publisher=MacRumors.com | date=April 9, 2012 | access-date=April 11, 2012}}</ref>

Before carriers began voluntarily providing unlock codes for all phone models, in 2010 the [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]] (EFF) successfully convinced the [[United States Copyright Office]] to allow an exemption to the general prohibition on circumvention of copyright protection systems under the [[DMCA|Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998]] for unlocking of phones through user self-help (sometimes referred to as "hacking").<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.copyright.gov/fedreg/2010/75fr43825.pdf|title= Federal  Register / Vol.  75,  No.  143 / Tuesday,  July  27,  2010 / Rules  and  Regulations" <!--can't confirm older title, move it in main text(?): US Copyright Office Final 2010 Anti-Circumvention Rulemaking -->|author=[[United States Copyright Office]] |work=[[Federal Register]] |date= July 27, 2010 |access-date=August 21, 2012}}</ref>  This exemption has become less important now that most carriers are voluntarily providing unlock codes.

According to a ruling effective October 28, 2012, it will be illegal to unlock phones purchased 90 days after this date or later without the carrier's permission.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2012-26308.pdf|title= Exemption to Prohibition on Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies|author=[[United States Copyright Office]] |work=[[Federal Register]] |date= October 22, 2012}}</ref> In other words, users can already unlock phones they already own, and phones purchased before January 29, 2013, but phones purchased after this point can only be unlocked with the carrier's permission.

In March 2013, the [[Obama administration]] and the [[Federal Communications Commission]] said consumers should also be able to switch carriers and keep their actual phones.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/05/technology/fcc-urges-a-right-to-unlock-cellphones.html|title=F.C.C. Urges a Right to Unlock Cellphones|first=Edward|last=Wyatt|newspaper=The New York Times |date=4 March 2013|access-date=22 March 2018}}</ref>

On August 1, 2014, President Obama signed into law the [[Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act (S. 517; 113th Congress)]], a bill legalizing unlocking cellphones in the US.<ref name=HattemHill>{{cite news|last1=Hattem|first1=Julian|title=House votes to allow cellphone 'unlocking'|url=https://thehill.com/policy/technology/213361-house-votes-to-allow-cellphone-unlocking/|access-date=25 July 2014|newspaper=The Hill|date=25 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/president-signs-cell-phone-unlocking-bill-into-law/|title=President signs cell phone unlocking bill into law|publisher=cnet|date=August 2, 2014}}</ref> The bill passed in the [[United States Senate]] on July 15, 2014, and in the [[United States House of Representatives]] on July 25, 2014.

[[Sprint Corporation|Sprint]] agreed to allow domestic unlocking on all mobile devices launched after February 15, 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sprint.com/legal/unlocking_policy.html|title=Legal / Regulatory & Consumer Resources}}</ref>

It is possible to buy unlocked phones in the U.S. Some online retailers sell phones that come unlocked from the manufacturer, that is, they were never locked in the first place.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}