Hate the fact that your wireless carrier keeps your smartphone locked? President Obama does too. The White House has filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission asking that wireless carriers be required to unlock all mobile devices.

Galvanized by the “We The People Petition” that managed to chalk up over 100,000 signatures to end cell phone locking, the Obama Administration is reportedly asking the FCC to end a law passed earlier this year that made it illegal for US mobile phone users to unlock their newly purchased cell phones without permission from their carriers.

For many, this law seemed anti-consumer, to say the least. Previously, the Library of Congress Copyright Office had issued an exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that allowed cell phone unlocking and jailbreaking, but that exemption came to an end. Why shouldn’t people who own a smartphone and paid off its contract be able to use those devices on another network?

Seems like the Obama administration agrees. “Americans should be able to use their mobile devices on whatever networks they choose and have their devices unlocked without hassle,” said Lawrence Strickling, assistant secretary of the NTIA. We couldn’t agree more.

• SourceWashington Post