The Librarian of Congress, which holds the right to pass exemptions to the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act), has listed a few new exemptions which remain  in effect till 2015. The exemptions, in simple terms, state that rooting or jailbreaking of smartphones is now permissible effective October 28th 2012. Unlocking carrier-locks on smartphones though, seems to be a slightly different, though not so simple a matter.
If you get the device directly from a carrier, and unlock it within 90 days of purchase for use with a different carrier, that is apparently permissible. However, if you purchase your smartphone post January 2013, you’re out of luck, unless your carrier is fine with it. Confusing and weird, but well, that’s what it is.
As far as rooting or jailbreaking goes, our life is going to be a lot happier, according to the law. This is not the case though with tablets, strangely. Tablets can no longer be unlocked, unless the manufacturer allows unlocking. This is how the argument  about tablets goes:
Found significant merit to the opposition’s concerns that this aspect of the proposed class was broad and ill-defined, as a wide range of devices might be considered ‘tablets,’ notwithstanding the significant distinctions among them in terms of the way they operate, their intended purposes, and the nature of the applications they can accommodate. For example, an e-book reading device might be considered a ‘tablet,’ as might a handheld video game device or a laptop computer.
In short, the definition of tablets seems to be too broad to allow the exemption for rooting or jailbreaking. And as far as carrier unlocking goes, well, if you get the LG Nexus 4 or the Galaxy Note 2 this year, you would probably get lucky. But if you’re holding off for some of the fancy stuff that’s there on Sony’s and Samsung‘s lineup for next year- too bad, you’re going to have to seek permission from the carrier.
Looking at the bright side though, rooting is no longer a taboo, and nor is flashing of custom ROMs. The flashaholics would be pleased. I know for sure that I am. To get the complete blow by blow account, hit the Via link below.
