4
100416007.13
(the “Original Network”), but only if: (a) such unlocking is not for the
purpose of profiting from any subsidy, discount, installment plan, lease,
rebate or other incentive program (collectively, “Subsidy”) offered by
the Original Network service provider; (b) all obligations to the
Original Network service provider associated with the provision of the
Subsidy have been satisfied or waived; and (c) such unlocking is not
for any unlawful purpose, including, but not limited to, obtaining
unauthorized access to a wireless network.
Item 4. Technological Protection Measure(s) and Method(s) of Circumvention
Describe the TPM(s) that control access to the work and the relevant method(s) of circumvention. The
description should provide sufficient information to allow the Office to understand the nature of the
relevant technologies, as well as how they are disabled or bypassed.
TracFone offers highly desirable wireless devices from well-known manufacturers such
as Apple, Samsung, and LG for sale to the public through retailers nationwide, through
online sales, and via telesales.
2
Many TracFone handsets include customized software
and firmware that enable the devices to operate on carriers with which TracFone has
contracted to provide network services to its customers, and to implement TracFone’s
pay-as-you-go business model.
3
In order to ensure that TracFone has a reasonable
opportunity to recover its subsidies, the custom software on TracFone devices is written
to lock the devices and prevent them from being moved to an alternative carrier.
Unlocking of a TracFone device thus requires circumvention of those locks by
modification or removal of TracFone’s custom software.
4
2
Handsets available from TracFone change over time depending on region, market demand and
manufacturing timelines. For a list of currently available handset models available for use in a given area,
see the website of one of TracFone’s seven brands, such as:
http://www.tracfone.com/e_store.jsp?task=buyphone&lang=en (last visited Mar. 24, 2015); or
http://www.straighttalk.com/wps/portal/home/shop/phones (last visited Mar. 25, 2015).
3
See e.g. U.S. Copyright No. TX0006515894 (filed Sept. 15, 2006) (registering a version of TracFone’s
computer program for cellular handset-resident prepaid system); TracFone Wireless, Inc. v. SND Cellular,
Inc., 715 F. Supp. 2d 1246, 1260 (S.D. Fla. 2010) (discussing the copyrighted software and how it is
modified and copied by phone traffickers); FED. COMMC’NS. COMM’N., DA 14-1862, Seventeenth Mobile
Wireless Competition Report 82 ¶ 161 (2014), https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-14-
1862A1.pdf (“There are several MVNOs who also provide service in the prepaid space. The largest of
these is TracFone, which runs on the networks of all four nationwide providers.”).
4
Comments by exemption proponents have described specific locking technologies. Those descriptions
make clear that the acts necessary to unlock a phone can range from simply entering a model-specific code,
to copying and “hacking” the security mechanisms put into place by the device supplier. As described by
the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc.:
In some cases, external software can circumvent the TPM and directly change the
relevant setting or cause the device to run code to change the setting—usually by
modifying a variable or replacing a short piece of code. In others, the operating system of
the device must be temporarily altered to permit new software to run on the device itself
and modify the relevant setting; typically, the software is then returned to its original
condition. In either case, the software often must make use of security defects in the