Tracfone whines that the DMCA ruined its business model
By Darren Murph 
posted Dec 16th 2006 5:43PM
posted Dec 16th 2006 5:43PM
Leave it to a prepaid provider to make the most noise about the recent DMCA ruling that allowed users to legally unlock their cellphones and hop to another provider (for the next three years, at least), as Tracfone is now up in arms about how the decision will affect (read: destroy) its previously-lucrative business model. While even Wal-Mart cracked the whip on prepaid phone purchases, and the grey market of unlocked mobiles is no real secret to anyone, the firm is declaring that it "will undermine its business because people will simply buy its cheap, no-frills handsets, unlock them, and take them to another provider." Of course, activation charges and ETFs are likely to keep folks from going too crazy with all this newfangled freedom, but it's fairly easy to see where Tracfone's coming from. If users don't rely on their prepaid minutes, there's little income making its way to the company to subsidize the rock-bottom phone prices, leaving the company grasping for dollars. Regardless, it's not exactly the DMCA's responsibility to keep Tracfone in (or out) of business, so we imagine its good ole terms and conditions will be reading a bit differently in the coming months to combat the recent ruling (and spoil our fun).[Via TechDirt]
They sell CDMA mobiles instead of GSM, and other CDMA providers won't activate those phones anyway. So the solution is simple - get off the GSM network.
Or, there's the other solution...
1) Cry me a river
2) Build a bridge
3) Jump off it
at number 1,
TracFone does sell some GSM phones which could be unlocked and used on other networks. It's already an issue with people buying many phones and selling them in underdeveloped markets for more.
Please. Tracfone has already made special firmware so that even if the phone is unlocked... it can't be used on other GSM carriers. This firmware locking process is already deployed on some models. Tracfone has already worked around this issue and yet is still complaining about it.
Unless Tracfone thinks the people that are intelligent enough to enter a Nokia DCT-4 unlock code are going to get a full flash set and start flashing phones... which could happen... and could be worked around as well...
Hello,
I am from nepal so i want mobile unlock code for Nokia mobile N73 please help me