Illegal to Unlock Smart Phone or Tablet

In the US it is now illegal to Unlock your Smart Phone or Tablet

As of now, it is not legal to unlock your new smart mobile device. This verdict,  by the Librarian of Congress in Oct., is seen by many as a blow to consumers who wish to do what they want, when they want, with the mobile devices they own.

Why is it not legal to unlock a smart mobile device or tablet?

Unlocking a mobile device requires making modifications to its firmware – software that is copyrighted by your provider and a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Was it always like this?

No

Every 3 years, the Librarian reviews the verdicts of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and makes exceptions  under the law. In 06, they  decided that mobile device unlocking should be exempted under Digital Millennium Copyright Act. But that changed in 2012.

Why this verdict changed?

Because they were convinced, for a number of reasons, that allowing unlocking was no longer a necessary exemption.

The reason listed by the Librarian is,  an increasing population of mobile devices you can buy that come unlocked. Apple and its provider partners sell the Iphone 5 unlocked, for example.  Nexus 4 also comes unlocked. T-Mobile has plans to offer more of its mobile devices unlocked.  Retailers like Best Buy offer  unlocked mobile devices. They decided that there is  no reason to change the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to allow people to unlock any mobile device since people can  buy an unlocked mobile device, if they choose to do so.

The new court verdict has changed the interpretation of the law. In 2010, the 9th Circuit court decided owners do not actually own the software on  mobile devices. Instead, we  only licensing the software  a key difference means that we don’t have a right to change that software. This was role in the Librarian’s verdict.

Is it not legal to unlock all smart mobile devices?

No
.
The verdict only applies to newly bought mobile devices, meaning any provider locked mobile device bought on or after Oct. 28, 2012, the date the new verdicts went into effect.

If you buy a used mobile device  or even a new mobile device not directly from a provider  you are still allowed to unlock it. It’s also perfectly legal to buy a mobile device that comes unlocked. You can also, in some circumstances, ask your provider for permission to unlock your mobile device.


Is jail breaking the same as unlocking?

No.

Jail breaking allows you to run apps on your mobile device that you couldn't with an un-jail broken mobile device, such as apps that are not available in the Itunes App Store.  Jail breaking does not let you change to a different provider.  Jail breaking is still completely legal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Is there a legal way for me to unlock my new mobile device?

Yes

AT&T will let you unlock your mobile device forever, given your contract has already expired.

What happens if I unlock my mobile device anyway?

Not Telling the verdict on that is not in.

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Enjoy

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Bit Torrent File Sharing 101.

Bit torrent for the Newbie

Bit Torrents?  What is this and how do they work. Where can I get with Bit Torrents?  Can I use such a program?  This is going to be kept simple.  So that average user can start downloading torrents.  Also as warning to you torrents and  file sharing can cause damage to your computer. This can happen through viruses, spyware and malware.  Follow my blog on computer maintenance to ensure you are protected.

I will say that torrents can give you great entertainment pleasure.  There is so much out there.  You willl find TV shows from days gone past or that artist you have been so long to hear again. There are movies and videos that would have seemed to be lost over time.  So it can be very useful when you want to find that long lost form of media.

To define Bit Torrents 

BitTorrent is a protocol that underpins the practice of peer-to-peer file sharing and is used for distributing large amounts of data over the Internet.

 Any large file  that runs or operate on your computer can be shared via Bit Torrent. 

People today are familiar with programs that allow you to share large files.   Napster was a program that allowed users to share music via a central hub and people downloaded the music to their computer. The federal government shut them down and Napster paid heavy fines for copyright violations.  Today there are  1000's of locations today you can share and download.  Where a torrent is vastly different is you do not have just one computer or single user you are downloading from.  However you have thousands of other people sharing the exact same file.  That is where a torrent is different it will take pieces of the program from several people that have the file and share it with you.  Then as the pieces of the program are collected it is reassembled and into a whole program on your computer for your use.

So you ready to give this a Go?

First:

You will need a program to download the files.  I prefer to use a program called U torrent.  I use it and it seems very light weight on the computer resources and contains zero spyware or malware when I install it.

Second

Next thing you need to do is look to where to find these torrents.  I will tell you there are 100's of torrent sites on the web.  These sites are under handed and will have pop ups and advertising in the hopes you click through to generate money.  Hoping to generate cash as you click these ads.   This will give you a list of locations you can down load legal content from the web. There are sites such as The Pirate Bay that deal in illegal content.  Yet the music industry and film industry have been in lawsuits against the users and owners of the site.

Third

So now you have the program and site.  From there it is easy just search your favorite artist.  As you do that it you will find what you want.  Just click down load this torrent.  Taking a closer look before you download the file will help.  Seeders are the number of people that have the program and leachers are the number getting the program. So a seeder to leecher ratio is important.  Find a high seeder and low leecher number.  Your torrents will be faster. .  U torrent does have an estimate time to completion in the interface. So when you see a result for 100's for your favorite artist always select the one wit the high seeder low leechers.

Final thought

 Bit Torrents work because of people sharing small amounts of data with the community you will be uploading and downloading at the same time.  When the download has completed you going to be still  sharing. you must close the program or stop the sharing your download.  Remember that this is a community of people and that the more that share the file the faster you go. So your part is to take and give and equal number back the community.

This should get you started on downloading your favorite things from the web.  I started thiswit it may contain virus when you do not know the source.   Good anti-virus is a must.


 Enjoy.

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Keep your Computer Running at Optimal Condition

Computer maintenance and repair while living in the Philippines.

Since it seems that this will be your life line to the outside world
you need to keep this in tip top condition. 

You must do certain things to keep it up and running. I am going to attempt to give you a
few things that I feel will keep you running in optimal conditions.
Since I am windows user this will be strictly for windows users.
Everything I will list to use is free to use.

First:

DEFRAG- I would ensure you run your defrag program at least once a
month. Look at your computer like a huge library as time goes on the
books get placed in different order and on the wrong shelf. Well the
same thing happens to your computer. These files become scattered all
over the hard drive. The defrag program is located right on your
computer and it is free to use. So use it, your speed will increase
by seconds or mins depending how fragmented your hard drive is.

Second:

CCleaner- is a free program that removes temporary files from your
computer. Go to the Cleaner section and hit "ANALYZE" when complete
"RUN CLEANER". As you have been surfing the Internet your computer
downloads little pieces of information and stores them on your
computer. This will clean alot of space on the computer. Plus again
this can slow down the computer as it searches for these little pieces
of information. Now go to the Registry section and hit "SCAN FOR
ISSUES" once complete you can now select all and "FIX SELECTED
ISSUES". It will ask you to back up your entries just save this to a
location on your computer. What happens here is as you install and
uninstall programs on your computer little pieces of the program are
left behind. This will remove those chucks of data. This also should
be run once month or more often if you are installing or uninstalling
programs.

Third:

Malwarebytes- What this program does remove spyware and malware from
your computer. This is different then a virus that attacks and slows
down your computer. This is primarily used to redirect your computer
browsing to different sites. Example you ever go to google and what
you had been searching for now appears as an advertisment to the
right. Though not malware or spyware it is a tracking cooking that
tracks your moves. What the Malware or spyware will do is create
popups or redirect you automatically to these sites. Additionally this
will slow your computer. It will direct you to certain sites no
matter what you type. They are also collecting data that you type and
sending to companies. It can be potentially dangerous if some of your
information is collected and sent to these people. I recommends you
run this program at least weekly to prevent such actions. As you can
see this will slow your browsing speed down and give you bogus
information when you do a search. Additionally the potential for harm
is great. When you get this program just run a quick scan once a week
and you will be safe.

Forth:

AVG FREE- This is a virus removal program. Well is that not what I
talked about above. No not really. Virus is a catch all phrase that
includes the above but is not limited to just that. Viruses tend to
spread. They go from infected host to other drives and anything
connected to the computer. They are malicious and attack the very
fabric which makes the computer run. Yes they can do what I stated
above however these little bugs are dangerous as they will cripple
your machine. To the point it will never run again. Getting a anti
virus program that runs in the background is a safe and effective
option.

Fifth:

Make sure your firewall is on. The reason is simple it acts a buffer
to what is coming from your computer to the Internet and what is
coming from the inter net to your computer. There are people that
will exploit open systems on the Internet and attack your computer
from cyber space. This will ensure they do not do that.

Sixth: 

Automatic updates. I recommend keeping them off. Then just
update them manually. Reason is when it updates it will use as much
resources as possible to accomplish the update. It will slow your
computer down as it updates. Just do not forget to run this. It
applies alot of security patches to your computer as the hackers are
always looking to exploit your computer.


With all all that said will this make you safe. The answer is no.
However it will make you safer and will keep you running in a peak
condition.
UECDGKMBG858

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