Responding to a citizen petition, the Obama administration has called for the legalization of cell phone unlocking, reports "TechHive" (http://tinyurl.com/c85qx4g).

"The White House agrees with the 114,000+ of you who believe that consumers should be able to unlock their cell phones without risking criminal or other penalties,” R. David Edelman, the president’s senior adviser for Internet, innovation, and piracy, wrote in an official response released by the White House.

Edelman was responding to a petition started by 27-year-old app developer Sina Khanifar, opposing the Librarian of Congress’s decision to making unlocking a mobile phone a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. That decision went into effect in January. You can find the petition at the We The People site (http://tinyurl.com/a7khf24).