Re: Expat List Can someone please unlock my friends beloved iPhone 3G????Hi
Simon,
I like the way you think. Believe me I hate the fact that my phone is locked to
the carrier. Is it my phone? Yes. Can I do anything I want with it? Yes.
Anything except making any modifications to the software that runs on the
phone. If you read your license agreement it is clear the owner of the phone
licenses the software. In case of the iphone Apple owns the software. No one
can make changes to the software, unless its explicitly stated in the license.
Even if you own your car, you do not have the right to modify the software
embedded in the chip, navigation system, etc. If you own your laptop no one can
make any changes to the operating system or any application that runs on the
computer. the software is simply licensed.
I want everyone to respect the intellectual property of the person or the
company that released the software. And frankly I would hate to see expats
suggest that somewhere in Russia someone can unlock the phone. I want Russia to
enforce the intellectual property laws and encouraging or suggesting such
activity is simply wrong.
Same goes for movies, music, etc.
Back to the phone. The reason phones sold locked in the USA and UK is because
they are subsidized by the carrier. So making any modifications to a device is
a violation of the contract between the user and the carrier. I know it sucks,
but I am sure you know how much phones cost in Russia. These phones are
unlocked and one is free to use it with any carrier. I paid 40 dollars for my
windows mobile phone. I can get the same unlocked phone for 700 dollars. I also
can get one for 40 bucks, unlock it and take it to Russia and pop in a local
SIM what good will it do to the carrier? Doing something like that is
considered fraud.
There is a big difference between unlocking a phone through your carrier like
ATT or Orange and hacking it by means of third party software. Once, before my
travel to Japan I called ATT and said that I will need to unlock my phone due
to my business travel to the country where ATT has no roaming agreements. I was
given the code and instructions on how to unlock my phone. When I came back
from Japan I went to a local Apple store to troubleshoot a bluetooth issue with
my phone. A techie at the store ran a diagnostic tool and found a hardware
issue. Before giving me a new phone he also noticed that the phone was
unlocked, which voided my warranty, but since ATT had a record on file I was
given a brand new phone.
Anyway, there are ways to legally unlock any phone.
- M
[email protected]
www.fandorin.com
From: Simon Culley
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 1:29 AM
To: The Moscow Expat List
Subject: Re: Expat List Can someone please unlock my friends beloved iPhone
3G????
Good old Garbushka is your best bet, last I heard you could only hard hack them
which means you need a Turbo SIM (little thing that clips over your Russian SIM
card and they both slot into the phone), the phone will still work in the UK -
well my friends UK 3G iPhone hacked in this way still worked in Mother London
when we went back there.
Regarding legality/illegality question, it is highly questionable whether it is
illegal to do this. In the UK it's not - after all it is your phone, and you
can do anything you want with it, you can go jump up and down on it, hack it,
eat it, boil it do what ever you like with it, hitting someone with it might be
considered an infringement of the law, but hacking it so you can use it in
another market isn't, I would be very surprised if Russia is very different -
particularly considering the number of people in Garbushka openly offering the
service, unless of course the phone is stolen or otherwise illegally obtained,
then the phone is illegal not the 'hacking'.
There maybe soft hacks available now this website is a good starting point
www.iphonehacks.com this is where I found the soft method to unlock my 2nd
Generation iPhone, they also have an RSS feed so will update you when it comes
available if it isn't already.
To be honest it is only the network providers that have a contract with Apple
to monopolise the market that get upset by people 'hacking' the phones, because
then they can't charge a premium to have the phone - that is actually being
challenged globally as more illegal than 'hacking' them.
To be honest I have a 3G iPhone that I bought here without hacking it, because
I didn't want to sign into a contract to get one in the UK or steal one and
there are better phones, Sony-Ericsson are actually doing a better job the
music service is better than iTunes and cheaper (also legal for those
concerned).
Good luck with it, nice gadget but try sending text messages or e-mails with it
with fingers any bigger than a 12 year old and welcome to whole new world of
swearing and frustration.
S
On 18/02/2009 02:11, "Dima Martyanov" <[email protected]> wrote:
Hi,
Any hack is some sort of illegal. In our country, though, it is more than
natural. The real "deal" will show up when you try to cross the border with the
thing. The least sanction to be imposed may be seizure of your device by the
customs authorities. But it really matters only for the models that are not
for sale in Russia, for instance. Otherwise, you don't have to worry.
Sincerely,
DM
2009/2/16 Charles Borden <[email protected]>
Misha:
You are mistaken. It is not illegal to unlock the iPhone.
CB
On 2/14/09 11:07 PM, "Misha Birman" <[email protected]> wrote:
Hi.
Its illegal to unlock the iphone by anyone but the carrier.
And for the expats that replied to his question: Why woould you suggest
something that is known to be illegal?
Misha Birman
web: http://www.mishabirman.com <http://www.mishabirman.com/>
skype: misha_birman
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:28:14 +0000
Subject: Expat List Can someone please unlock my friends beloved iPhone
3G????
Good evening good people of Moscow!
I am writing his on behalf of my colleague who recently purchased a 3G
iPhone from the UK however is having a great deal of
trouble unlocking it so he can use it here in Mother Russia. Any help in
this matter would be appreciated.
Ideally all correspondance should be returned through the mailing list
however please feel free to call me on 8925 8380572
Thanks in advance!
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