Text 31939, 104 rader
Skriven 2009-05-01 10:51:24 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
  Kommentar till text 31925 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
Ärende: Message prices
======================
Michiel van der Vlist wrote to Robert Bashe on Friday May 01 2009 at 00:33:

MV> "Unlocking" a phone is as esy as unlucking a door. *If* you have the
MV> key.

"Aye, there's the rub", as Shakespeare once noted...

RB>> the procedure is often difficult and requires special equipment and
RB>> programs.

MV> The original idea behind the SIMlock was to discourage theft.

Really? I never heard of that, and certainly this is not applied by any end
user I'm aware of. So this was supposed to be something like the "supervisor
passwords" and "hard disk passwords" in laptops?

MV> The idea was that the user installs the lock and when the phone is
MV> stolen, he asks his provider to invalidate the SIM card. The phone is
MV> then useless to the thief. This should dicourage theft.

Nice idea, but like supervisor passwords not very effective. That's probably
why it's not used (to my knowledge).

MV> For some reason, the designers not only added an option to lock to to
MV> a specific SIM card, but also the option to lock to a group of SIM
MV> cards. Hence the network lock and provider lock.

The reason is easy to understand - money. You can subsidize a phone at a high
phone rate and lock it so that _only_ that rate can be used. That way you can
recover the subsidy and make a tidy profit too (assuming the user phones fairly
frequently).

RB>> If you have someone near you who can do the job and you can bring the
RB>> phone over to them, this can be simple. But if you have to send it
RB>> off somewhere, the job can become more expensive than it's worth to
RB>> remove the lock.

MV> That applies if the user does *not* have the key. The security of the
MV> ;locking mechanism is not very high. It can be hacked. And that is
MV> what you are talking about.

See the URL I mentioned in the message to Roy. That's what I was talking about.

RB>> I might add that privately "unlocking" a phone is illegal in some
RB>> countries, such as Germany

MV> It is not illegal in The Netherlands.

I know.

RB>> (that means that you don't wait the usual two-year "locking period",
RB>> after which you get the unlocking code free from the provider...

MV> In The Netherlands the providers are required to provide the key after
MV> one year. For free.

And in Germany after two years. But as fast as the market develops, that's a
long time. And that, of course, is the whole point.

RB>> ...it costs you around EUR 100 before that - but unlock the phone
RB>> yourself or have it unlocked),

MV> The going rate at flemarkets is EUR 10,-

I was talking about getting the unlock code from the provider. And note my
comments to Roy about unlocking modern cell phones.

MV> I got my Siemens M35 unocked by a friend who found the hack on the
MV> net. No special hardware required. Just the "standard" date cable.
MV> I.E. the same cable I use to make the M35 act as a Hayes modem.

Which gives you direct access to the EEPROM. Unfortunately, this is not always
the case. I once unlocked a Motorola T191 myself, but required special hardware
to do it.

RB>> You can also buy "packages" of a (usually simple, cheap) SIM-locked
RB>> phone with the SIM of some provider. These are relatively cheap
RB>> (subsidized), but lock you into an expensive rate for two years.

RB>> Apparently the situation in the Netherlands is different, as Michiel
RB>> has noted that no identification is required to buy a prepaid SIM
RB>> there.

MV> Indeed. No ID required. Plus that you are not locked into a higher
MV> rate. The rate is attached to the SIM card, which you can use in any
MV> unlocked phone.

Very true, as I also noted in my message to Roy.

MV> It is the phone that goes with it that is locked to the card. You can
MV> not use the *phone* on another SIM card without first unlocking it.

Exactly.

And unfortunately, the newer phones require more effort (hardware) than the
older ones. I found a guy with the hardware to unlock a Nokia 1650 locked to O2
I had bought, but had to send him the phone and pay for the return in addition
to EUR 15 for the unlocking. As things stand, only the provider can give you an
"unlocking code" that merely has to be entered into the phone.

Cheers, Bob

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