17-year-old hacker extraordinaire George Hotz worked out a way to make Apple's iPhone work with other wireless carriers besides AT&T.
Why did he do it? Because, he said, "it was fun."
"This was a good use of a summer," he said during the live interview Friday afternoon. "I became obsessed with unlocking this thing." [...]
The teenager, who posted his achievement on his blog Thursday, said unlocking the iPhone is complicated, takes about two hours and requires skill with both soldering and software. He estimated he spent 500 hours developing his technique.
Bottom line: Once he paid for it, it became his to mechanically alter however he pleased providing he doesn't actually use it in a way that violates the usage contract.
but yeah, AT&T will probably sue the shit out of him.. since they funded for it..