H.R. 1123: Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act

Introduced:
Mar 13, 2013 (113th Congress, 2013–2015)
Sponsor:
Rep. Bob Goodlatte [R-VA6]
Status:
Referred to Committee

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.

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Status

This bill was assigned to a congressional committee on March 13, 2013, which will consider it before possibly sending it on to the House or Senate as a whole.

Progress
Introduced Mar 13, 2013
Referred to Committee Mar 13, 2013
Reported by Committee ...
Passed House ...
Passed Senate ...
Signed by the President ...
Prognosis

100% chance of getting past committee.
90% chance of being enacted.

Only 11% of House bills made it past committee and only 3% were enacted in 2011–2013. [show factors | methodology]

Cosponsors
8 cosponsors (6D, 2R) (show)
Committees

House Judiciary

↪ Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

To promote consumer choice and wireless competition by permitting consumers to unlock mobile wireless devices, and for other purposes.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

Read Bill Text »

Last updated Mar 13, 2013.
2 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

3/13/2013--Introduced.
Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act - Repeals a Library of Congress (LOC) rulemaking determination, made upon the recommendation of the Register of Copyrights, regarding the circumvention of technological measures controlling access to copyrighted software on wireless telephone handsets (mobile telephones) for the purpose of connecting to different wireless telecommunications networks (a practice commonly referred to as "unlocking" such devices).
Reestablishes, as an exemption to provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) prohibiting such circumvention, a previous LOC rule permitting the use of computer programs, in the form of firmware or software, that enable used wireless telephone handsets to connect to a wireless telecommunications network, when circumvention is initiated by the owner of the copy of such computer program solely to connect to such a network and access to the network is authorized by the network operator, thus permitting unlocked phones.
Directs the Librarian of Congress, upon the recommendation of the Register, to determine whether to extend such exemption to include any other category of wireless devices in addition to wireless telephone handsets (e.g., tablets and other mobile broadband-enabled devices).

House Republican Conference Summary

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No summary available.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

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