Sign the Petition to Make Unlocking Cell Phones Legal

A petition has been started at WhiteHouse.gov to Make Unlocking Cell Phones Legal. If enough signatures are received it will be sent to the appropriate policy officials in the Obama administration and an official response will be posted to the petition page and sent to those who signed the petition.

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The Librarian of Congress decided in October 2012 that unlocking of cell phones would be removed from the exceptions to the DMCA. As of January 26, consumers will no longer be able unlock their phones for use on a different network without carrier permission, even after their contract has expired.

Consumers will be forced 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. The Librarian noted that carriers are offering more unlocked phones at present, but the great majority of phones sold are still locked.

We ask that the White House ask the Librarian of Congress to rescind this decision, and failing that, champion a bill that makes unlocking permanently legal.
---

We strongly suggest that you sign the petition if you can.


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- Posted using my iPhone 5

Verizon iPhone 5 won’t ever be locked, most likely due to FCC agreements

Verizon is not going to re-lock the iPhone 5, according to a report today from the AP:



NEW YORK (AP) — Verizon Wireless said Monday that it won’t prevent its version of the iPhone 5 from being used on AT&T’s network. The Verizon version of the iPhone 5, which went on sale Friday, came with an unexpected feature: it works on the network of AT&T and many other phone companies [including T-Mobile], as well as on Verizon’s. It’s the first time Verizon, the country’s largest cellphone company, has sold a phone that works on competing U.S. networks with no complicated hacking, or “unlocking,” procedures.

But, does Big Red even have that option? Verizon tends to do everything possible to lock customers in, and allowing AT&T customers to use the handset is totally against everything it stands for. A Howard Forums poster notes that when Verizon purchased its 700MHz spectrum a few years ago, which it would eventually use for LTE, the carrier told the Federal Communications Commission it would not lock phones that used this network as part of the deal.

I’ve been reading up on the open access provisions in regards to the C-Block of 700 mhz LTE spectrum. There is a very specific line saying that a licensee(Verizon) cannot configure devices to be locked against use on another network. This means that Verizon would be violating Federal law if the iPhone 5′s sim slot is even partially locked. Unlike on the iPhone 4S – these regulations mean that Verizon must even allow an AT&T sim card to be used in any Verizon iPhone 5.

The relevant law is found here in the Code of Federal Regulations
Title 47 – Telecommunication. CHAPTER I – FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED). SUBCHAPTER B – COMMON CARRIER SERVICES. PART 27 – MISCELLANEOUS WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES. Subpart B – Applications and Licenses. § 27.16Network access requirements for Block C in the 746-757 and 776-787 MHz bands.

Take a look at this : (e) Handset locking prohibited. No licensee may disable features on handsets it provides to customers, to the extent such features are compliant with the licensee’s standards pursuant to paragraph (b)of this section, nor configure handsets it provides to prohibit use of such handsets on other providers’ networks.

The one caveat is that Verizon iPhones cannot utilize LTE on AT&T’s network, but it will be able to use T-Mobile’s 2G and new 1900MHz 4G network.


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- Posted using my iPhone 4

Pod2g Posts FAQ on iPhone 4S and iPad 2 Untethered Jailbreak

Pod2g has posted on his blog to answer some questions about the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 untethered jailbreak.

How could pod2g have an untethered 4S and dev teams still haven't released tools to achieve this at home ?
The exploit I used to inject the untethering files to the 4S relies on having a developer account, and can't be released publicly. It's the same reason why @MuscleNerd has an iPad 2 tethered jailbreak but couldn't distribute it. So, we need to find a distributable exploit to remount the system partition read/write and to set Corona files at the correct places.

Why A4 version of Corona was easier to release ?
Because a tethered jailbreak is a good way to install Corona!

Why don't you do a tethered jailbreak then ?
A tethered jailbreak also relies on an exploitable vulnerability that we still haven't found yet !

Earlier this week, pod2g posted that he had made good progress on the jailbreak for A5 devices and said with some luck we could expect a release in a week.

Read more



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- Posted using my iPhone 4

Pod2g Makes Progress With A5 Jailbreak, Release Could Come in a Week!

Pod2g has just tweeted some interesting information regarding the A5 jailbreak. Apparently, pod2g has made good progress on the jailbreak for A5 devices and claims that if lucky, we could expect it in a week!

I made a step today for the A5. With some luck we could expect a release in a week.

Keep in mind though, there are still some roadblocks ahead and the ETA can always get pushed back. In the meantime, you can jailbreak any pre-A5 device on 5.0.1 using our jailbreak tutorial page located here.

We will keep you updated on the A5 jailbreak as well. You can follow us on @limerain_com, Facebook page , RSS.


via Pod2g




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Apple Blocks iPhone 4 Unlock Via Gevey SIM

Apple has blocked the ability to unlock the iPhone 4 using the Gevey SIM in iOS 5.0b2, according to MuscleNerd.

it's surprising Apple closed Gevey interposer hole in b2 rather than waiting until final (maybe they were under pressure)

Gevey's SIM Interposer was able to unlock the iPhone 4 by force activating the baseband using the emergency dialer. MuscleNerd notes that its unlikely Gevey will try to battle Apple while iOS 5 is in the beta period.


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Unlocked iPhone 4 goes on sale today!

It may seem that the rumors have been true, Apple has released the iPhone 4 in both black and white gsm factory unlocked. These iPhones retail at $649 for a 16gb & $749 for a 32gb iPhone 4 in ether what or black.

You heard it hear first, and you can buy your very own factory unlocked iPhone 4 from Apple here.





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Unlocked iPhones Have Arrived at U.S. Apple Stores?

The first unlocked iPhones to be sold in the United States have reportedly arrived at the Apple Store, according to 9to5Mac.

Sources within United States Apple Stores have told 9to5Mac that shipments of four new iPhone models have reached their respective Apple Store locations today. As originally reported by ChronicWire, the model numbers are in fact MC603 (16GB, Black) MC604 (16GB, White) MC605 (32GB, Black) MC606 (32GB, White).

The pricing on these unlocked iPhones is expected to be $649 for the 16GB version and $749 for the 32GB. They are predicted to go on sale Wednesday.




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Gevey Unlock Confirmed Working for iPhone 4 in the U.S

The Gevey SIM Interposer is reportedly confirmed working to unlock the iPhone 4 in the U.S., according to a RedmondPie report.

Gevey recently released a SIM Interposer which can unlock the iPhone up to iOS 4.3 by force activating the baseband using the emergency dialer.

The SIM Interposer works by adding a EEPROM chip to your SIM card just like a TurboSIM. You then call 112, a number that can be called from any GSM phone, free of charge, with or without a SIM card on any compliant network. Once the call connects you hang up then toggle Airport mode on and off. When the network connection resumes you will be unlocked.

This method of unlocking is not recommended due to the legality of dialing 112 in certain countries. You can learn more about how the unlock works here.


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SIM Interposer Provides Legally Questionable Unlock For All iPhone 4s Video

Gevey has released a SIM Interposer which can unlock the iPhone up to iOS 4.3 by force activating the baseband using the emergency dialer.

A blog post by Laforet explains that the SIM Interposer works by adding a EEPROM chip to your SIM card just like a TurboSIM. You then call 112, a number that can be called from any GSM phone, free of charge, with or without a SIM card on any compliant network. Once the call connects you hang up then toggle Airport mode on and off. When the network connection resumes you will be unlocked.

What does it mean to unlockers?
1. It works if A.your network handles 112 calls properly according to the GSM standard; B.they are tolerant to TSMI spoofing and does not actively validate your SIM again for incoming calls.

2. Unlike its ancestors, the i4 SIM interposer is not a drop-in-and-forget device. The exact precedure must be performed should the device restart, lose reception for an extended period of time or move to another PLMN. In all these situations the TMSI expires and has to be obtained again. Theoretically it is possible for a daemon to automate the process similar to ZeroG, but that only makes thing more convoluted.

3. It is, without question, unethical or downright illegal to use the technique anywhere 112 is a legitmate emergency number. Not a huge issue in China where the number is only used for informative purposes and the networks cannot be bothered to fix the issue.

4. All firmware/baseband combinations for the i4 up to iOS4.3 are vulnerable, however the exploit may be patched in any future software updates or via the carrier. If apple can influence providers to block Cydia it is not impossible for them to press them to fix the exploit. The only way to permanently unlock your baseband is NCK.

5. SIM interposer should not harm your phone hardware, however your network could request IMEI and identify your device during the emergency call. Your identity cannot be faked and it is possible that they will ban your account. There is a reason why SIM cards remain legally the property of the service provider: you are not supposed to tamper with them without breaching contract.

6. Notwithstanding all the problems, SIM interposer does not cause any battery drain since it is only active transiently, nor would it cause signal loss because it does not change cellular transmission other than the initial validation step.

Laforet concludes by saying that the $50 mod can be unreliable and is legally questionable. If you are desperate for an unlock it may be worth a try. Otherwise Laforet suggests you wait for the 40-bit NCK hack by the iPhone Dev-Team.



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- Posted using my iPhone 4

MobileSubstrate Beta That Supports iOS 4.3

An early beta of MobileSubstrate with support for iOS 4.3 has made its way online, reports FSM. For those of you who are stuck on iOS 4.3 you can download it from here and install it using iFile or these instructions.

For those on 4.2.1 you should still wait until an official jailbreak and official MobileSubstrate release to ensure the stability of your device.


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Warning: Jailbreakers and Unlockers Should Wait Before Updating to iOS 4.3

As usual those looking to jailbreak or unlock their devices should wait before updating to iOS 4.3.

This warning is especially important for those looking to unlock 01.59 on iOS 4.3 because the unlock for newer basebands is taking longer than expected.

Ultrasn0w unlockers should know the drill! Don't let iTunes trick you into installing today's 4.3 iOS. Just say no!

Sorry, there's no news on the i4 unlock for those who lost 01.59 (or never had it). It's taking longer than we wanted :(

MuscleNerd also notes that there are many possible sources for a untethered iOS 4.3 jailbreak. i0n1c, Comex, Charlie Miller, and possibly others.

BigBoss has also warned against performing an "unofficial" jailbreak due to issues with Apple’s implementation of address space layout randomization that messes up MobileSubstrate.

We'll keep you up to date with news on the jailbreak and unlock front as it becomes available.




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China Telecom Employees Unlock the Verizon iPhone?

The WSJ is reporting that China Telecom employees may have unlocked the Verizon iPhone for use on their CDMA network.

A post signed the "Apple Lab Team" on the Sina Weibo account identified as belonging to the Guangdong branch of China Telecom said Tuesday the "CDMA iPhone 4 has made its first call in China" without a hitch. Preceding posts included a photo of a Verizon Wireless iPhone beside a tag labeled China Telecom Guangdong, then a photo of the device displaying the home screen for Cydia, a software application that allows users to find applications and software packages for jailbroken Apple devices.

The team reveals that the phone was jailbroken with Greenpois0n for Mac; however, its not really clear if the phone has been unlocked to use a China Telecom number or whether the phone has just made a call over China Telecom's network using a Verizon number.

The employees’ microblog says to stay tuned for more "pleasant surprises."




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PwnageTool 4.2 With iOS 4.2.1 Untethered Jailbreak Released!

The iPhone Dev-Team has released PwnageTool 4.2 to create a custom IPSW that can perform an untethered jailbreak on iOS 4.2.1.

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What's in a name? Well in the case of an HFS volume name on iOS, an untether exploit — as the Chronic Dev Team revealed last week with an untether for the 4.2.1 jailbreak, which had previously been a tethered JB for most recent devices since 4.2.1's release in November. With their permission, we've incorporated their 4.2.1 "feedface" untether into today's PwnageTool 4.2. This means iPhone unlockers can safely restore to a custom 4.2.1 pre-jailbroken IPSW and retain their current baseband and unlock.

PwnageTool also supports all the other 4.2.1 devices other than iPod touch 2G:
● iPhone3G
● iPhone3GS
● iPhone4
● iPhone4-Verizon
● iPod touch 3G
● iPod touch 4G
● iPad
● AppleTV 2G

PwnageTool also includes two very recent improvements to the 4.2.1 JB: iBooks was just fixed by @comex and @pushfix last night so that it works as intended on DRMed books, and the wifi problem on AppleTV 2G was fixed by @nitotv, @DHowett, and @saurik. Both of these fixes will also be available in upcoming Cydia package updates, so if you're already jailbroken you can wait for those updates rather than restore and jailbreak again.

The various components to the 4.2.1 untether (including a second exploit involving Mach-o headers) were worked out by 0naj, posixninja, and pod2g, and a nice writeup by 0naj is available on the wiki. The actual injection method uses geohot's limerain exploit for most devices. And even though 4.3 is just around the corner, the exploit used has already been closed in the latest 4.3 betas, so it made sense for the 4.2.1 untether to be released when it was. It also appears that a security researcher named @i0n1c has a 4.3 untether ready for when Apple releases the final 4.3 FW, so it may not be a long wait at all with 4.3!
-

You can download the new version from here(mirror). We will be updating our PwnageTool tutorial shortly!




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iPhone Dev-Team Says No Unlock Until After iOS 4.2.5 or iOS 4.3

The iPhone Dev-Team has announced that there will be no unlock released until after iOS 4.2.5 or 4.3 is released.

Official iPhone unlock statement: no unlock will be released until after 4.2.5 or official 4.3 (whichever is last) is out

This is of course disappointing for many but overall in the best interests of the community.




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comex To Wait Until 4.3 For Untether?

A somewhat enigmatic
email from @comex
is raising speculation that the next untethered jailbreak may be held back for iOS 4.3. An Italian blogger contacted the guy behind Spirit and JailbreakMe to ask for a short and sweet answer to the question of whether the untether will be available for 4.2.1 or 4.3, and received the response that it "depends when 4.3 is out."

The Dev-Team released the "backup plan" tethered jailbreak after it was clear that @comex was not going to be able to hit his Christmas target for the userland jailbreak he has been working on. Dubbed "jailbreak monte" (after the now-you-see-it, now-you-don't
card trick
), the current version of redsn0w, as well as the untethered version in beta, conserves exploits by relying on iOS 4.2 beta 3, which is only available to developers. This has led to a proliferation of pirated betas, which @comex says "
is making me nervous
." But with the only alternative being a userland jailbreak that Apple would fix in 4.3, @comex has apparently concluded that it makes more strategic sense to hold back on that for now, and wait for the next firmware release. The email sent to Andrea Cervone of iPhoneItalia supposedly had come from the email address @comex has
publicized on his Twitter feed
, though obviously that's easy to fake in a screenshot.

Right now we're at a bit of an impasse, because there are a lot of people who want/need jailbreaks who don't have the $99 to pay for an iOS Developer license, or are ineligible for one because of their age and country of origin. As long as "monte" is the only jailbreak method out there, it's going to tempt those people to pirate 4.2b3, which as @chpwn notes "
hurts the image of jailbreaking
" by giving detractors an excuse to paint it as "illegal and illegitimate." Let's hope that the standoff ends quickly.




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Geohot May Have Untether for Some Jailbroken Devices

Geohot may have an untether for some jailbroken devices running iOS 4.2.1, according to a tweet by MuscleNerd.

@ipodguy79 I hear geohot does have an untether actually! Though not for all devices.

Geohot is the hacker behind limera1n which is currently being used to jailbreak iOS devices. It was recently discovered that Geohot registered Rubyra1n.com; however, that name is thought to be reserved for a future exploit.

Currently, only some iOS 4.2.1 devices can be untethered via a 'backup plan' untether from the iPhone Dev-Team. Comex is also working on an untether which will hopefully be available soon.




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iPhone Dev-Team Announces 'Backup Plan' Untethered Jailbreak is Nearly Ready

The iPhone Dev-Team has announced that their 'backup plan' untethered jailbreak is nearly ready and will not require a restore of your device.

According to MuscleNerd, the backup plan for those w/legit access to 4.2b3 IPSW is about ready...again though, better to wait for comex

Thanks to comex, redsn0w can now handle much bigger files than ramdisk 25MB limit. Useful for "backup plan" 4.2 untether

it shouldn't require a restore...just another redsn0w run. (That's the goal!)

Interestingly, comex has also written some code to retrieve files from a damaged iOS filesystem.

This latest @comex code also allows retrieval of photos+files stuck behind an unfixable filesystem problem...good stuff!

Comex is still working on a more extensible untether; however, those with access to the 4.2b3 IPSW will be happy to know they may soon untether their jailbreak.


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iOS 4.2.1 Unlock to be Released By Sunday For iPhone 3G, 3GS

The iPhone Dev-Team has made good progress on the iOS 4.2.1 unlock and it should be available by Sunday for the iPhone 3G and 3GS. The iPhone 4 unlock will require a bit more time, according to MuscleNerd.

Good progress today...everything is on track for updated ultrasn0w by Sunday/Funday at the latest (longer for iPhone4!)

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! (Please don't wait out today for the unlock, we celebrate Thanksgiving with family too!)

We'll keep you updated with more information as it becomes available.




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