Locked into your phone

Cellphone users know that when they sign a contract with a mobile phone company, they're locked into that network for the duration of the deal. What they may not know is that their phone is digitally locked to that network forever. And as of this week, they may no longer have the legal right to unlock it, even after the contract has expired. It's just the latest example of how companies have stretched copyright law to deter competition and innovation, not protect the creators of copyrighted works.

January 29, 2013