“After the decision last year to make unlocking smartphone and tablet devices illegal, the US House of Representatives today voted yes to allow the practice to become legal once again,” Alex Allegro reports for 9to5Mac. “This is already the second time the government has voted on this issue, as just a few weeks ago the US Senate approved the legislation to move on to the House.”
Allegro reports, “The final step in getting the law approved is the President’s signature, which should come with little delay as he has already spoken out in favor of the bill.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
unfortunately, our beloved congress is more concerned with unlocked iPhones instead of unlocked borders.
That has always fascinated me; the obsession of many Americans about all those Mexicans (and whoever else) crossing into the United States. I wonder if they are aware that the percentage of all those illegals that cross into America and end up in any way burdening the country (vs. those who end up dong extremely hard and unpleasant work, which nobody else would do, and receive pittance for that work) is truly negligible. In fact, according to widely available data, vast majority of those illegals end up actually paying US taxes and contributing (in their own limited way) to the US economy; certainly more than many natives, who park their money offshore and pay some minimal taxes to the US…
But the point of this legislation is unlocking, and regardless of locking or unlocking of American borders, this should generally be positive news. I don’t think any carrier will be too concerned by the requirement to unlock the phones of their customers upon request. Most of them were already doing this anyway (except the consumers didn’t realise this was possible).
The whole concept of ‘subsidy lock’ is one big hassle anyway. Hopefully, this will make that mess just a little be smaller.
,,,or something.
uh, a better question: why would it require a law to lock or unlock a possession that you have purchased?
C’mon Botty, you’re smarter than that question leads on.
From reading his other posts, nah…
Predrag, it amazes me how much you get wrong about our country.
1) Apple stuff, good info.
2) Music, classic(al) answers.
3) Our economy, culture, and politics…..?
Well, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad
Yup, America should declare the planet as Americans and everyone can come at a moments notice with tax forms in hand. Then everyone will be able to compete for jobs with equal ability form President, Senate, House, State, and local government. Should have no preference in seniority, education, or submittal date – just show up and get hired. Then they will be forced to compete against anyone and everyone with a much lower pay for those prime government jobs they so protect and others so desperate to get- including all those health care benefits with those great government perks. Then anyone that moves money off shore will have to pay an American. Save a bundles of cash on border protection and immigration hassles. The benefits are endless. Rules not required.
What, no one has had friends or family effected by illegal immigration? Well, a lot of people do and those that are protected from unfair practices do not understand. So, the next time you consider illegal immigration – place your self in their shoes where hundreds of people willing to work for fractions of what you make now and push your jobs wages to rock bottom. Your employer can simply fire and hire another from a daily list. They will sleep in cars, streets, lots, or groups in a house. They do not need a house, do not need luxury, they save their money to send to their families or save to return to a much cheaper market where the money will buy them much. But, you have to give up your wage and your lifestyle to compete as they will come asking for a chance at your job. This is regardless of your occupation- engineers, Lawyers, Journalist, Nurses, Doctors, politicians, or any occupation.
Just place your self in the same shoes as those that have to compete with people just showing up for your job.
Just have a moment to think about them.
It could be you.
Sounds like it’s a problem with employers and seeking only profitability. It’s not the workers fault that people are willing to hire them. In fact, that people feel they NEED to hire them to compete.
Come down hard on the enablers, not the users. Stop buying from companies that use immigrant labour.
Washington, D.C., June 19, 2014: A new study released by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) finds that providing education, health care, law enforcement, and social and government services to illegal aliens and their dependents costs Californians $25.3 billion per year according to FAIR’s report The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration on California Taxpayers. The state’s 3 million illegal aliens and their 1.1 million U.S.–born children cost the average California household — headed by a U.S. citizen — $2,370 annually.
Among the report’s key findings:
Funding the K-12 education for children who are themselves illegal aliens and for the citizen children of illegal aliens accounted for the largest share of the cost to taxpayers at $14.4 billion. These services included standard public school educations and supplemental English language instruction. Despite federal funding, the average per pupil expenditure is $10,450 each year.
Justice and law enforcement costs — policing, court and incarceration — associated with illegal aliens soared to more than $4.4 billion.
Medical services cost taxpayers approximately $4 billion, including $388 million associated with 68,000 births to illegal alien mothers.
Public assistance — low-cost meal programs, free immunizations, etc. — are available to residents regardless of legal status. The $792 million price tag for these services is borne by California taxpayers.
The report finds that taxes collected from illegal aliens amounts to about $3.5 billion annually.
“Twenty-five billion dollars a year in costs associated with illegal immigration represents a fiscal crisis that affects California’s ability to meet its basic obligations to citizens and legal residents,” said Dan Stein, president of FAIR. “While clearly the Federal government bears responsibility for its failure, or refusal, to enforce our immigration laws, in California’s case many of the burdens of illegal immigration are self-induced.
“Despite overwhelming evidence that illegal immigration represents an unsustainable fiscal burden to the state, the California Legislature and local governments across the state continue to provide new benefits, new services, and new privileges to illegal aliens, even as the state neglects the needs and concerns of other Californians. The costs will continue to grow so long as the state continues to reward illegal immigration and impedes immigration enforcement. California taxpayers will continue to be the losers in this unhappy scenario,” concluded Stein
—————————————
This is just the financial aspect. Social aspects include the displacement of blacks from jobs that were traditionally held by blacks in California. No single group of people has been harmed more by illegal immigration than American blacks.
Since you claim to be about truth, let’s bring the report and organization you cited into the light shall we. This org, has an agenda..
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is a non-profit tax exempt organization in the United States that advocates changes in U.S. immigration policy that they believe would result in significant reductions in immigration, both legal and illegal. It claims to have more than 250,000 members and supporters, and has been called to testify in front of the United States Congress on immigration bills.
FAIR is headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded on January 2, 1979, with seed money from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Its founding chairman was John Tanton, a founder of many anti-immigration and environmentalist groups.
Lets learn a bit about him shall we:
Tanton was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1934. In 1945, he moved with his family to a farm northeast of Bay City, Michigan on which his mother had been raised and on which he worked.
He is the son and grandson of immigrants. John’s father was John Fitzgerald Tanton, who was born in Ontario, Canada in 1898 and in 1928 emigrated to the United States. His great grandparents, Martin Johann and Carolina Koch, were born in Germany and emigrated to the United States in 1853.
Tanton graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Michigan State University in 1956, and received his doctor’s degree from the University of Michigan in 1960. He received an M.S. in ophthalmology from the University of Michigan in 1964. John Tanton is widely recognized as the leading figure in the anti-immigration and “official English” movements in the United States. Initially, Tanton’s public policy advocacy work was driven by his commitment to zero population growth and environmental conservation. By the late 1970s, however, this concern about the environment and population growth evolved into a crusade against immigration flows into the United States, particularly from Latin American and Caribbean nations. At the time that the New Right, Christian Right, and neoconservative political tendencies were mobilizing new constituencies against center-left politics in the United States, Tanton played a central role in mobilizing backlash sentiment against mass immigration. Tapping his base in environmental and population control organizations such as the Sierra Club, National Audubon Society, and Zero Population Growth, Tanton in 1979 cofounded what has become the most influential immigration reduction policy institute in the nation: Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). In 1983, he also cofounded the most influential “official English” or English-only organization, U.S. English.
Tanton is connected to a number of immigration reduction and official English groups. As the founder and publisher of Social Contract Press, Tanton has published books that have been accused of shaping a nationalist ideology focused on the threat of immigrants to the white Anglo, English-speaking population. Social Contract books also stoke fears about immigrants taking over the United States, with research that highlights the rapid rise of Spanish-speaking residents and related socioeconomic problems, while ignoring research that points to the positive contributions of immigrants. In addition to FAIR, Tanton has been a central player in an array of anti-immigration, nationalist groups and institutes, including Pro English, U.S. Inc., Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), U.S. English, and Numbers USA. Funding for these and other organizations in which Tanton is a key figure, often flows through the organization, U.S. Inc. U.S. Inc. also helps support educational and environmental organizations such as Scenic Michigan (for which Mary Lou Tanton is the 1st Vice-President), the International Dark-Sky Association, the Foreign Policy Association’s Great Decisions Series, and the Harbor Springs chapter of the North Country Trail Association.
According to Tolerance.org, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center: “The organized anti-immigration ‘movement’ is almost entirely the handiwork of one man, Michigan activist John. H. Tanton.”
Funding of FAIR:
Under Tanton’s leadership FAIR was criticized for taking funding for many years from the Pioneer Fund, a non-profit foundation dedicated to “improving the character of the American people” by, among other things, promoting the practice of eugenics, or selective breeding. FAIR responded to this criticism by asserting that the Pioneer Fund clearly states that it supports equal opportunity for all Americans, regardless of race, religion, national origin, or ethnicity; that other major organizations, including universities in the United States and other countries, have also accepted grants from the Fund and that the Pioneer Fund’s contributions to FAIR were used only for the general operation of the organization. In February 2009, after the Southern Poverty Law Center publicized these allegations against him, Tanton challenged that organization to a public debate at the National Press Club
SPLC criticism:
A February 2009 report by Southern Poverty Law Center examined Tanton’s written correspondence highlighted alleged connections between Tanton’s immigration-reduction efforts and white supremacist, neo-Nazi and pro-eugenics leaders.
The introduction to the report reads:
FAIR, CIS and NumbersUSA are all part of a network of restrictionist organizations conceived and created by John Tanton, the “puppeteer” of the nativist movement and a man with deep racist roots. As the first article in this report shows, Tanton has for decades been at the heart of the white nationalist scene. He has met with leading white supremacists and associated closely with the leaders of a eugenicist foundation once described by a leading newspaper as a “neo-Nazi organization.” He has made a series of racist statements about Latinos and worried that they were outbreeding whites. At one point, he wrote candidly that to maintain American culture, “a European-American majority” is required.
So you want us to listen to a report, from an org co-founded, and formerly ran by a racist, who is the grandson of white immigrants from Germany, but seeks to deny immigration to dark skinned folks.
NO THANKS..
You are a champion of driveling illogic..your goal of equating illegal immigration to your notion that John Tanton is a neo-nazi because his grandparents are from Germany is a stretch, even for a self-deluded professional liar such as yourself.
“He has met with leading white supremacists and associated closely with the leaders of a eugenicist foundation once described by a leading newspaper as a “neo-Nazi organization.”
..what “leading newspaper?”
…what leaders of white supremacy?
you’ve just buried the needle on the Shit-o-meter®.
you remind me of someone, are you chicken farmer by chance?
Your LPS (lie per sentence) rate is phenomenal. Your blatant implication that Tanton is a neo-Nazi because his great-grandparents emigrated from Germany in 1853 is truly a new low, however the Nationalist Socialist Party was created in 1919. You remind me of Hillary Clinton claiming to be named after Edmund Hillary even though he conquered the summit of Mount Everest six years after she was born.
May I just add that I live in Downtown Los Angeles, not too far from skid row. Skid Row is basically the “black section” of Downtown Los Angeles. We are going through a gentrification period now. Whites are moving into buildings that weren’t previously residential.
Hispanics have most of the low to mid level jobs.
They work in the restaurants, they cook, clean, bus tables, deliver food and so on. They work in managing the buildings. They provide maintenance, building management, security, janitorial and so on.
They are wonderful people, who I’m more than happy to have as friends, neighbors, and associates. I’ve come to have many close relationships. I sat with a young man studying engineering late at night and having some language problems but we’d work through them. I’d bring him dead motherboards and we’d identify components for fun. This went on until he got a better job working for an electrician. He’s gonna be ok.
There is an ever present sense of sheer effort amongst the people that I envy. A work ethic any American should be proud of and as I watch the world around me, there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t thank the stars that we’re being “invaded” by Catholics and not people from a neighboring Islamic country. And I’m an atheist!
It’s not about racism. My number #1 issue is tell the freaking truth. I don’t believe the pro-illegal-immigration people are doing this out of altruism. I believe they are importing voters. I believe it’s that simple. And it is costing money. They are creating a large constituency of poor to depend on for votes. It’s so obvious. This is why when Republicans say votes should have to have an ID, they scream racism! Anyone should be able to vote! No ID required! It’s so obvious it’s laughable, except that it’s a serious problem.
Rationally we can’t just keep accepting the poor of other nations. California is always broke, always raising taxes, in doing so driving business out, driving the wealthy out, and we import the poor. We are one big failure waiting to occur.
And the fantasies about the evil rich people hiding their money not contributing anything seriously need to end. It’s a juvenile view of reality. The vast majority of taxes paid in our country and our particular state are paid by these evil rich people. They are the ones paying the $25 billion cost for illegal immigration into California.
Maybe they need to go after people who employ illegal aliens . They are the ones who create a market for illegal immigration and who ultimately cheat the taxpayer .
Yes, I believe I stated the problem. The government representatives are not competing with the illegals, so there is not incentive to correct or even enforce current regulations.
I bet if they had to compete with them like the poor to middle class citizens encounter daily economic hardships from lowered wages, it would stop immediately – they would go nuclear. They would strictly enforce the rules and go after the people that employ them, from the common Joe to Hollywood. But their jobs are not effected.
You think the Democratic’s or Republication’s would allow hundreds of politicians from around the world to just walk over the border illegally and sign up for the next election to compete against them in their own district?
You think they would allow that now? See how fast they bring up the regulations.
They would fight from every corner to block people from competing against them.
As stated, the unaffected see rules as bendable until they encounter the same practice.
Just hypothesizing an idea here, haven’t thought it all the way through, so bare with me: if it were made legal to employ illegal aliens, so long as they were paid minimum wage and pay income taxes, would that not completely remove the only financial incentive for hiring illegal aliens over citizens? Without the financial benefits, hiring illegal immigrants just would not make sense for he vast majority jobs they work now, as they could just hire American citizen for the same amount of money without language barriers and worry of them being deported at any moment. Perhaps some people would still have reasons to employ illegal immigrants, but there’s no way it would be as commonplace as it is now without its current financial incentive. One possible issue I see is this would effectively be a major minimum wage increase, causing some economic turmoil. The minimum wage for illegal immigrants is currently $0, and raising that would have huge and hard to predict economic repercussions. Drastically reducing the number immigrants and slave-like work conditions I think would be worth it, so long as the turmoil is temporary as the economy adjusts to the new normal.
Agreed. In addition you have to put money into educating immigrant workers that they DO have rights, and give them recourse to pursue an employer offering less than minimum wage.
Yes, that will be unpopular and even possibly considered “anti-American” but as stepping razor pointed out, the only way to end the disdain is to create equality.
America is a country full of immigrants. People leaving their country for a better life where they can be judged by their work, not their birthright. Its success is BECAUSE it enabled people of all classes and status to contribute to the nation productively and with relative freedom.
You know, had I said that, I would be labeled a racist.
Here is something I don’t hear enough discussion about-
The reason many illegals (most) are hired is because of the low wages paid. If they are illegal, they can’t bitch.
Now, what happens when they are made ‘legal’? Their wages have to go up, so the impetus is to always hire the new ones that aren’t legal, until they are legal, and then they have to compete with the rest of us. The cycle is endless.
Here in the South, the stepping stones out of poverty start with low-wage jobs. Legal Americans can get more on welfare than to drop below the increasing minimum wage to compete with illegals, who can’t get many of the benefits, so what happens? Bricklayers, concrete finishers, drywall hangers, framers, rod busters and the like all hire illegals to learn the trade and pay them cheap. Poor Blacks and Whites make more NOT working because of the illegals, so they never get the basic training and first steps out of poverty.
Obviously one benefit of securing the border and enforcing hiring practices would be to benefit the low income (including Hispanics-Americans) and would check the need for a minimum wage.
(To you liberals who can’t see how this would happen, if you lower the number of low-wage earners by decreasing illegals, their value goes up as well as their wages. It’s plain economics 101….)
I thought you right wingers worshiped at the alter of profit and free enterprise, you believe the lie that is no ceiling growth.
Who is to blame for the illegal wages? Why hate on the person trying to survive and feed a family, is it not the illegal practice of business that is fueling the very thing you are wringing your hands over?
How can you blame the poor who would rather work and have a little pride over the bowl of rice they provide their family, is it not the robber barons who own the company that are responsible? One simple decision could end it, but they won’t make that choice because they are addicted to their ill-gotten profits NO?
1st paragraph- No, that is just your childish opinion.
2nd paragraph- Who hated on anybody?
3rd paragraph- Again, I did not blame the poor. I said this
“Obviously one benefit of securing the border and enforcing hiring practices would be to benefit the low income (including Hispanics-Americans) and would check the need for a minimum wage.”
If you are going to argue with me, then argue with ME, not some skewed vision you project about a subject you obviously know very little about and didn’t grow up watching.
Maybe you should use all your knowledge and resources to help make the countries they come from better instead of making our’s worse….
heh, you’re gettin’ the hang of it.
“a little pride over the bowl of rice”…that’s just excellent. However, “dignity of their God-given gruel” has so much more emotional propaganda impact, the image of “The Potato Eaters” comes immediately to mind.
incidentally, it’s altar not alter.
If you are not a Native American, you are an immigrant.
you do not know the definition of immigrant. I was born in this country, you idiot.
immigrant |ˈimigrənt|
noun
a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country.
• Biology an animal or plant living or growing in a region to which it has migrated.
ORIGIN late 18th cent.: from Latin immigrant- ‘immigrating,’ from the verb immigrare, on the pattern of emigrant .
I am pretty sure he knows the meaning of “immigrant”, you idiot.
I was going to make the point myself, so I’ll project my thought on Tflint… that your family has probably been here for a tiny amount of time, and, compared to the people who already lived here, your whole family are immigrants.
This leads to the idea that the bombastic bigotry shown in placards like “America for Americans” is not only objectionable but illogical.
This is not to say that America should just open the border to the world with, “What the heck, everybody, whoever feels like coming can come.” I’m not saying that. I’m just speaking against your pedantic jerkery.
jerkery
noun
A made up word to describe people who can’t make a point without insult, name-calling and obscenity. Most typically, the individual known as botvijerk who, unfortunately, posts on the website ‘Mac Daily News’.
Sean, you are truly more boring than golf.
Native American emigrated from Asia.
(Of course a loooonnnnggg time ago.)
You beat me to it. NO people originated on this continent.
off-course?
I’d like to hear the experiences of those with AT&T. I had an iPhone 5, which was about one year old. I bought it from T-mobile, using their new contract-free plan. It was a two-year interest-free loan with an up-front payment of $150.
After one year, I had called them to request unlocking, as I was traveling overseas and wanted to use local nano-SIM card. No problem, said T-mobile and sent the request on to Apple. A few days later, I backed up and restored my phone (via iTunes), after which I got a message in iTunes that my phone was successfully unlocked. I used my local nano-SIM (mt:s Serbia), and at the end of my vacation sold my iPhone over there (for some nice cash), which I used to by an unlocked iPhone 5s upon return to the US.
Long story short, half way through my loan, T-Mobile happily unlocked my iPhone, no questions asked. Apparently, they didn’t need any laws to make them do this.
How does AT&T do this?
https://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB414532&cv=820#fbid=IbVXz0pHhnS
AT&T will unlock a device under the following circumstances:
The person requesting the unlock code must be one of the following:
A current AT&T customer
A former AT&T customer who can provide the phone number or account number for the account
The AT&T Mobile Device was designed for use on the AT&T wireless network.
The AT&T Mobile Device has been paid for in full.
The AT&T Mobile Device has not been reported lost or stolen.
You’re allowed the following number of device unlocks:
Current customers are allowed up to five device unlocks per account, per year.
Former customers are allowed a total of five device unlocks per former account.
Additional eligibility requirements to unlock AT&T devices
In addition to the general eligibility requirements, you may need to meet additional requirements based on your Service Commitment (also known as your contract), whether you’re a postpaid or prepaid customer, or if you’re requesting a device unlock due to military deployment.
Wait… I was illegal for me to unlock my iPhone?
I know, the law has some sort of other details, but what are they? Where are they in MDN’s blurb? Wow.
…And of course any such congressional bill is over-ridden by any contract a customer signs with a mobile phone service provider. All the provider has to do is state:
“The Customer shall not own their mobile phone outright until such time as this contract is terminated” or some such legalese. Then if the customer cracks the phone, oops they borked the contract, pay up for the rest of the phone’s value NOW or get sued for breach of contract…
IOW: Mess ahead.
Passing a law for this is absurd. They should pass a law where it is illegal to break the screen of an iphone as well.
Too many lawyers spoil the population.
Much of the south of the US belonged to Mexico and was annexed by the US using force and tricks – now Mexicans are just taking back what rightfully belongs to them 😉
Uh, the Indians owned the land before the Europeans landed and the current Hispanic is a mix of European and Native tribes. I believe the true tribes should get the land back not the mixed races that currently claim the land.
If you want to be fair on land ownership, Mexico was made by the Europeans pen.
Well, I’m 1/8th Indian, so I’ll take the 1/8th of my state. Aw heck, just 1/8th of my county will do.
I am 25 percent Cherokee, I make no claim to the land as I am a mixed race.
Yet, people forget that this landmass was forcefully taken from the Native Americans. The border and names were created by Europeans, and the mixed race that is said to be reclaiming the land is of European origin – thus created by interaction.
I am just stating a fact that the land was no colonized until recent times, the borderers did not represent the tribes lands, nor the names, and the current population of mixed race has not true claim. Thus, how do you reclaim land that was not yours, nor your tribes, and the name is not that of any tribe?
Sounds like history was revised and people forgot who really lost the land. At least respect the history and the people. That is my point – do not claim land that is not yours without the proper clarification.
Greetings, and thank you for your post.
I’ve always been under the impression that ownership was a white man’s concept, that others not just the North American Indian view themselves not as owners but harmonious inhabitants and care takers of not only the land but of the air and seas.
The eagle soared the skies well before humans of any color flew. The whale swam the seas lakes and streams well before any human took a dive. The tree had firm roots into the land before any man took to the ax.
There are those that are 100% living, on this planet. They need not claim and argue overs such a limiting concept of ownership.
No one lost the land, their life if a testimony to that.
I am 100% mongrel, so I get to live wherever I want.
arf.