Recently, an exemption from the DMCA that allows for mobile phone unlocking was removed. Now anyone who unlocks a mobile phone is participating in an “illegal act.” That’s right, a device that you may have paid for, or have over paid [if you’ve had the phone long enough, and bought it under a carrier subsidy] has legal protections to prevent the owner from messing about with it. Given this reversal, the government is assisting in the creation of a monopoly that only benefits the mobile phone carriers.
What can you do as a US citizen? Well not much really, but there is a direct petition to Obama. Let the president know that you ask for the freedoms that are granted by many, other nations in the world.
The petition is currently at signature 64k out of 100k needed.