Unlocking Technology Act of 2015
Latest action · Apr 21, 2015 Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 24, 2015
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Unlocking Technology Act of 2015
Amends the prohibition under federal copyright law on the circumvention of a technological measure that controls access to a copyright-protected work to require that such prohibition apply only to circumventions carried out in order to infringe or facilitate infringement of a protected work.
Declares that it shall not be a violation to: (1) circumvent a technological measure if the purpose is to engage in a use that is not an infringement of federal copyright law; or (2) use, manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device, component, or part primarily designed or produced to facilitate noninfringing uses of protected works by circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to such work, unless the intent is to infringe or facilitate infringement of a copyright.
Declares that it is not an infringement to copy or adapt the software or firmware of a user-purchased mobile communications device for the sole purpose of enabling the device to connect to a wireless communications network if: (1) the copying or adapting is initiated by, or with the consent of, the owner of that device or the owner's agent; (2) the owner or agent is in legal possession of the device; and (3) the owner has the consent of, or an agreement with, the authorized operator of such wireless communications network to make use of its network. (Thus, allows the "unlocking" of mobile devices without requiring an owner to obtain the consent of the initial carrier network before switching to a new carrier.)
Directs the President to ensure that applicable bilateral and multilateral trade agreements are modified to be consistent with this Act.
Cosponsors 7
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 24, 2015 to Feb 3, 2016, with 3 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-CA | Anna G. Eshoo | Original | Mar 24, 2015 |
| D-CO | Jared Polis | Original | Mar 24, 2015 |
| R-KY | Thomas Massie | Original | Mar 24, 2015 |
| D-OR | Peter A. DeFazio | May 12, 2015 | |
| D-MO | Emanuel Cleaver | May 14, 2015 | |
| D-CA | Michael M. Honda | Jun 2, 2015 | |
| D-NY | Louise McIntosh Slaughter | Feb 3, 2016 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Apr 21, 2015Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet.
- Mar 24, 2015Introduced in House
- Mar 24, 2015Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Commerce.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 24, 2015Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.
