Here's an interesting little conundrum: should people be allowed to unlock the software that ties their cell phone to a particular carrier so they can take it with them if they decide to switch? The Federal Government recently said yes and found itself slapped with a lawsuit by Miami-based pre-paid wireless carrier Tracfone Wireless, Inc. Tracfone says the ruling is unfair because it allows consumers to buy the phones, legally reprogram them and then resell them elsewhere in the world, a problem they're already fighting against.

I think I'm on the side of the reprogramming on this one, as it's never made sense to me that I have to a buy a phone company to buy a cell phone. However, there's certainly a good counter argument to this interesting debate - there's no protection against the kind of quasi-smuggling Tracfone describes. We'll see how it plays out.