General Petition asking Obama to legalize cellphone unlocking will get White House response

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tom_mai78101

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A petition pleading for President Barack Obama to push back on a decision that made unlocking cellphones illegal will receive an official response from the White House. With two days to spare, the petition has become one of the first to surpass a recently-instituted 100,000-signature "goal" that must be hit to prompt an administration reply. Previously the requisite was 25,000 — a far more attainable figure — and as a result the White House's "We The People" tool was sometimes used for comical purposes rather than serious causes.

Few would consider the unlocking petition a laughing matter, however. It calls for Obama to pressure the US Library of Congress to double back on its controversial removal of unlocking from a list of Digital Millenium Copyright Act exceptions. As a result of the change, unshackling your cellphone so it can be used on any carrier is now considered illegal if you haven't obtained the proper consent. If the Library refuses to reverse the decision, the petition calls for Obama to draft a bill that would permanently legalize unlocking.

Even with the signature goal met, Fight for the Future is encouraging consumers to add more and more names, hoping to receive "a meaningful response" from President Obama. Despite the passion surrounding this issue, we don't foresee Obama attempting to overrule the Library of Congress on the matter. Even so, we'll be keeping our ears to the ground for the White House response.

www.theverge.com

Petition asking Obama to legalize cellphone unlocking will get White House response

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It irritates me that this is all focused on Obama. Last I looked, the Constitution grants legislative power to the Congress, not the President. It should be Congress's job to draft a bill to fix this, not the President's.
But then, when you've got a Marxist like him in office, I suppose you start to treat him like a ruler after a while.
 
Ghan said:
It irritates me that this is all focused on Obama. Last I looked, the Constitution grants legislative power to the Congress, not the President. It should be Congress's job to draft a bill to fix this, not the President's.
But then, when you've got a Marxist like him in office, I suppose you start to treat him like a ruler after a while.
Click to expand...
As far as i understood the president really is the key figurine in the US government system.
But as i have heard as well, obamas party is not strong enough to make tough decisions.
 
the response - and it's a good one!

Ghan said:
Last I looked, the Constitution grants legislative power to the Congress, not the President. It should be Congress's job to draft a bill to fix this, not the President's.
Click to expand...


Congress is what made it illegal to unlock the phones, and the president is responding to complains from the people, and acting according to their role as head of the executive branch by checking congress on the issue.
 
Hmm but still, all of sudden it's president job?
Well, after all, doesn't he have more important things to do? Just saying
 
FireCat said:
Hmm but still, all of sudden it's president job?
Well, after all, doesn't he have more important things to do? Just saying
Click to expand...

it's the executive branch's - it's his job if others don't step up.. but in this particular case the FCC seems to be doing most of the work
 
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