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The iPhone unlocking game heated up considerable over the weekend with no less than three people/groups claiming to have unlocked the coveted Apple device. The first and [most impressive iPhone unlock][1] comes from a New Jersey teenager and involves soldering, but most definitely works.
Shortly after that came word from Engadget that the somewhat questionable outfit iPhone Sim Free had [succeeded with a software only SIM unlock][2] (Engadget claims to have an iPhone that was successfully unlocked).
Engadget has also reported that iphoneunlocking.com has a [software SIM unlock solution][4], though personally I think this one is a scam. For one thing iphoneunlocking.com is thrown together Wordpress blog that looks like it took about thirty seconds to set up. But most tellingly the group has failed to release their software when they said they would.
The group claims: "The sale of unlocking codes is on hold after the company received a telephone call from a Menlo Park, California, law firm at approximately 2:54 a.m. this morning (GMT)."
The idea that a lawyer would be so concerned about the software as to call at three is doubtful. Couple this with the fact that there is very little legal ground for suing over unlocking software and you have all the makings of a good scam.
The DMCA doesn't cover unlocking phones, in fact it explicitly okays the practice which means AT&T would have little legal ground to stand on and the company is probably aware of that.
Among the exemptions added to the DMCA last year is one that covers: "Computer programs in the form of firmware that enable wireless telephone handsets to connect to a wireless telephone communication network, when circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of lawfully connecting to a wireless telephone communication network."
What about the iPhone Sim Free hack? Engadget is pretty adamant that it works, the iPhone Sim Free folks unlocked one of their iPhones, which led Engadget to throw some bold tags around this statement: "Again: we can confirm with 100% certainty that iPhoneSIMfree.com's software solution completely SIM unlocks the iPhone, is restore-resistant, and should make the iPhone fully functional for users outside of the US."
Engadget also claims it survives software updates and even a full restore, which would make it impressive, but for the time being, iPhone Sim Free don't have anything publicly available for testing -- in other news, we hear the new Duke Nukem Forever is going to kick ass.
If you're looking to unlock your iPhone today, you'll have to grab a soldering iron and give George Holt's SIM cracking method a try.
[1]: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IPHONE_UNLOCKED?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
[2]: http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/24/iphone-unlocked-atandt-loses-iphone-exclusivity-august-24-2007/
[3]: http://blog.iphoneunlocking.com/?p=15
[4]: http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/24/iphone-software-unlock-competition-begins-to-heat-up/
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