vitriol wrote:
Ryan_ATL wrote:
storepeter wrote:
A new unlocked 8Gb 3GS costs $375
No such device is offered for sale in the US.
Good luck with teh FCC, but they frankly are unlikely to do anything about it. AT&T is well within their legal rights as has been mentioned here multiple times.
IANAL but I think the legal position on this hasn't been fully tested in court. There appears to be plenty of laws in the US which potentially make 'tying arrangements' such as this illegal. For example the section 2 of the sherman act states
"Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony
Also the FCC has duty to ensure adequate competition in telecommunications, so it's entirely feasible they will change their position. The position in the UK is interesting- there's actually no requirement (though there used to be guidelines to this effect) that carriers unlock phones after the end of the contract subsidy. They did this of their own volition, presumably due to competition.
No it has been tested, and ATT won - a few minutes of research on the net will find the answer for you. As far as unlockingin Europe - there are laws that require it, again research works
