Consumers, particularly cellphone users, have earned a major victory as US President Barack Obama signed a bill that gives users the right to unlock their cellphones on Friday.

The Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act passed in the Senate last July 19. The House of Representatives also approved the bill on Friday, and Obama has been expected to sign it right after.

This law essentially revives the consumer rights of Americans to update the software of their respective phones that allow them to change operators if they deem it necessary. However, this practice was outlawed in January 2013 through a decision issued by the Library of Congress stating that this seemed to have violated the Digital Millenium Copyright Act or DMCA.

In the United States, most phones have this built-in software that locks the phone so it would not be used through another network. According to the previous decision of the Library of Congress, changing the software has violated certain provisions of the DMCA, particularly the anti-circumvention provisions.

The new law signed by President Obama serves as a good news for the customers of T-Mobile and AT&T as they can easily switch network providers. The new law also brings benefits to frequent travelers who often bear the burden of paying experience fees because of the roaming service. Now, they can just use a foreign carrier instead of getting pushed to avail of the roaming service.

The catch, however, is that this will experience in 2015 when the Library of Congress is again expected to issue another ruling on this matter.

There has been an online petition previously launched for the Library of Congress to revert its decision. Sina Khanifar, the organizer of the said petition, said in a statement that the consumers now have a chance to unlock their devices for around a year. Khanifar hopes that the Library of Congress will rethink its decision and consider the benefits of allowing mobile consumers to unlock their phones.