You may remember that last year, the DMCA exemption on unlocking phones was smacked down. Well it's going into effect this Saturday. So starting tomorrow, unlocking your phone will be officially illegal. Yay.
Unlocking phones without the express consent of the carrier who locked them became illegal thanks to edits to DMCA exemptions back in October, but it's only now that the 90-day grace period is running out. Locked phones purchased in the 90 days after the ruling are still game to be unlocked, but from here on out, for an unlocked phone to be legitimate, it'll have to have been bought that way or come with a permission slip from your carrier.
It's not the first time retracted DMCA exemptions have threatened to mess with your ability to mess with your phone. Jailbreaking and rooting almost became illegal again because of DMCA exemption changes. Fortunately, the same batch of modifications that illegalized unlocking will also protect phone jailbreaking for another three years. But it's still not allowed on tablets. Not than anyone is likely notice that particular indiscretion.
These changes won't, of course, limit you ability to unlock phones anyway, but it will give carriers a bit of a heavier stick to wave at you if they catch you using an unlocked phone they didn't authorize; they can tell. There are also a few technical loopholes. Legacy phones, i.e. "used (or perhaps unused) phones previously purchased or otherwise acquired by a consumer" are still cool to unlock, and that definition has a little bit of play in it. But the practice of unlocking your carrier-discounted phone is still going to be a crime, so get ready to deal with this brave new world, or live the life of an outlaw.
Illegal... you know I'm not really going to lose any sleep over this outside of the potential damage to sites and communities like xda. If the carriers do anything more than dole out some sort of fine I'll be surprised. Eventually some carrier will release all their phones like asus did with the tf300t tablet: register,unlock and no problem but your warranty is voided. I think this approach makes sense. I will be interested to see how xda handles the pressure from carriers or manufacturers to limit or remove access to the knowledge of this community.
T-Mobile will accept any unlocked phone. Plus, I can always buy chinese clones that come unlocked. No big deal.
Maybe in the US, but in Europe it's not illegal.
I've always wanted to live in US - a country of freedom.
Is the unlock illegal only if the equipment in question is under contract?
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magik300 said:
I've always wanted to live in US - a country of freedom.
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If your not in the us why post? Nobody cares about how your EU allows phone unlocking now then let the us people do the talking.
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Majority of Sprint phones, like mine, come unlocked lol
Yay! Just because I paid full price for something doesn't mean I expect to own it or do what I want with it. I am happy to give my carrier hundreds of dollars for something that they have control over.
Seriously though, I refuse to buy a locked phone out of principle. I wish others would do the same.
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gc84245 said:
Yay! Just because I paid full price for something doesn't mean I expect to own it or do what I want with it. I am happy to give my carrier hundreds of dollars for something that they have control over.
Seriously though, I refuse to buy a locked phone out of principle. I wish others would do the same.
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:good:
I am from Tunisia:laugh:
bbrad said:
If your not in the us why post? Nobody cares about how your EU allows phone unlocking now then let the us people do the talking.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2
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I believe his comment was sarcastic...
daluke said:
Is the unlock illegal only if the equipment in question is under contract?
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
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I am wondering this as well.
O no my phones illegal ! So is my girlfriend
sent from your moms phone
Didn't this unlocking refer to unlocking in the sense that you can use it with sim cards from any carrier and not the "unlocking" that means installing your own operating system or getting root privilegues?
There is no any restriction here in Chile, i expect that doesn't change.
Yes that's only for the carrier not just unlocking ur phine
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93fuelslut said:
O no my phones illegal ! So is my girlfriend
sent from your moms phone
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Haha
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It's also illegal to Jay walk and take the tag off your mattress... so this changes nothing
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Let XDA be governing regulating authority like DMCA. Then standards will be set by xda for dev community. XDA has the potential in my opinion.
Without research world cannot be healed.
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vikraminside said:
Let XDA be governing regulating authority like DMCA. Then standards will be set by xda for dev community. XDA has the potential in my opinion.
Without research world cannot be healed.
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What lol. Xda is Dev forum nothing else.
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Related
For all those who worry about a bricked device with rooting, fear no more.......
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/06/16/verizon-begins-charging-full-price
I received this link from my buddy who works internally for Verizon this morning, after i asked him about this two weeks ago as some rumors were floating around saying VZW would charge you full price if you rooted and needed a replacement
This is in no way a guaranty that you will not be charged, any time you root your device you void your warranty blah blah blah
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VZW may not check, but HTC probably will. HTC may be "root friendly" but they don't want bad press about their products, either. If HTC finds evidence of root, there is nothing to stop them from reporting that to VZW, who will likely charge you full retail price for the reburbished phone they sent you as a replacement.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
sublimaze said:
VZW may not check, but HTC probably will. HTC may be "root friendly" but they don't want bad press about their products, either. If HTC finds evidence of root, there is nothing to stop them from reporting that to VZW, who will likely charge you full retail price for the reburbished phone they sent you as a replacement.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Nope, not correct sir, but I see what your thinking, once the device passes the 3 checks, it gets sent off to be broken down for refurb device parts
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Verizon might not, but their contracted refurb centers do.
jcase said:
Verizon might not, but their contracted refurb centers do.
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Exactly. Just file an insurance claim and be done with it.
jcase said:
Verizon might not, but their contracted refurb centers do.
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Doesn't matter, cause the refurb centers can't charge you as well as there is no path for them to turn around and tell VZW that a device was rooted, once the receiving warehouse verifies the meid and the 3 physical checks its sent off to the refurb center to be taken apart, I worked for Big red for 6 years, once it leaves the receiving warehouse it's gone, so even if they (refurb center) did it wouldnt matter
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1454 said:
Exactly. Just file an insurance claim and be done with it.
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Free vs $90 or whatever it is......Hummm.......... Think I'll take the free option
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It still amazes me that people think businesses won't protect themselves from scammers. They may not make it a priority to catch every single one, but spot checks will happen. It would be a really horrible business practice to allow everyone to scam you out of your own product.
Link all the articles you want, but when they show their numbers for Quarter/Year, they'll take note on how much money was lost to "defective" merchandise. If that number is abnormally high...your ass will be grass when they start investigating the new returns.
redtechjunky said:
Free vs $90 or whatever it is......Hummm.......... Think I'll take the free option
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90 bucks vs whatever they charge if they find it rooted...
I'm guessing it depends on where it goes. Regardless, i'll pay the insurance just in case.
Kind of like car insurance, haven't used it in 10+ years, but still carry it.
sublimaze said:
VZW may not check, but HTC probably will. HTC may be "root friendly" but they don't want bad press about their products, either. If HTC finds evidence of root, there is nothing to stop them from reporting that to VZW, who will likely charge you full retail price for the reburbished phone they sent you as a replacement.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dunno about that I got mine replaced, but then again the screen was water logged so perhaps there wasn't a way to check without powering on screen. I've known many people who have turned in rooted phones and never had a problem...
Carnage9270 said:
It still amazes me that people think businesses won't protect themselves from scammers. They may not make it a priority to catch every single one, but spot checks will happen. It would be a really horrible business practice to allow everyone to scam you out of your own product.
Link all the articles you want, but when they show their numbers for Quarter/Year, they'll take note on how much money was lost to "defective" merchandise. If that number is abnormally high...your ass will be grass when they start investigating the new returns.
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Click to collapse
1.4 million customers and of that 260,000 thunderbolts.....of that 25,000 to 50,000 rooted, and that's a liberal number it's probably less, I'm no math major but I doubt there will be any major impact on "defective" merch and Verizon has an internal sop with equipment and issues, if the "defective" device replacements hits a certain %, the device moves to "end of life" and they stop carrying it, it's that simple, they're not going to investigate anything
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Keep believing that...
Cause no one at Verizon has a clue.
Carnage9270 said:
Keep believing that...
Cause no one at Verizon has a clue.
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Click to collapse
It's not a matter of believing, it's a matter of knowing, and I am, hence the signature
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redtechjunky said:
Must Watch Before Any XDA Forum Post http://goo.gl/b4IJJ
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Says everything I needed to know. Moving on...
Maybe Verizon wont, but somewhere along the line someone will know.
Every time you do this you are signing a petition begging carriers and manufacturers to lock down their devices and persecute the root community.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using Tapatalk
You can't talk sense to these people, they just keep going and going and complain later when the companies institute crazy rules and pricing. It's illegal, plain and simple, but you'll never convince them of anything.
Carnage9270 said:
Says everything I needed to know. Moving on...
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Was more intended as a reference to the GB Rom vs the XDA Noob Video, but whatever flips your skirt lol
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mcmillanje said:
Maybe Verizon wont, but somewhere along the line someone will know.
Every time you do this you are signing a petition begging carriers and manufacturers to lock down their devices and persecute the root community.
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Click to collapse
I agree, carnage, but we must still try. Unfortunately, too many people think only of short term selfish benefit, and not about long-term consequences for the whole community.
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Carnage9270 said:
You can't talk sense to these people, they just keep going and going and complain later when the companies institute crazy rules and pricing. It's illegal, plain and simple, but you'll never convince them of anything.
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Click to collapse
not to add fuel to the fire but it is not illegal to root your phone.. and aren't you yourself falling into the category of "people" that refuse to believe what others have to say as true?
redtechjunky said:
For all those who worry about a bricked device with rooting, fear no more.......
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/06/16/verizon-begins-charging-full-price
I received this link from my buddy who works internally for Verizon this morning, after i asked him about this two weeks ago as some rumors were floating around saying VZW would charge you full price if you rooted and needed a replacement
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Your internal friend gave you a link to an android blog site...
cool story bro
http://myandroidchief.com/samsung-w...o-strip-phones-of-infringing-patent-features/
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2
Could it be the case that its the update to 4.0.4? hmmmm I wonder???
That's going to suck if they actually ban our device.
It is not banning "our" device. If it happens, still a long shot, it will not really affect current users. They will not take your phone from you. Carriers will just have to stop selling, which probably still means they can deplete their current inventory as they have already been purchased from Samsung.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda premium
Pee Wee Herman said:
That's going to suck if they actually ban our device.
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Look at it like this if they are ban from selling ,then the value if our device will go up due to the fact that u can't buy from the store anymore.
I wasn't meaning it as a problem for people with the device currently, I meant to say that I have a lot of friends my age looking and seeing all the things I do with my phone. They're all saving up to buy them and if they ban the T989 then my friends won't be able to purchase via stores.
Sammy's guys are much more smart than apple developers, we will be resting while Sammy is creating the champion phones they always have. Apple complaint about similarities. Sammy is not going to make similar phones to apple smartphone in theory. But if apple revolutionizes everything to be more convenient then Samsung must use power instead of convenience. If apple is commercial, Samsung must be the people's phone, easy enough? If apple make fast phones Samsung should be elegant or if apple makes the stable phone then same should make the surprising phone. If apple wants all the money then Samsung should have more interest in phones and their appearance for the better of the lawsuits and a efficient resolution to forward production in the next line of phones.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA Premium HD app
You guys can always take a trip up here to Canada. None of that garbage that Apple is pulling applies here, and we have the same phones to purchase. Peace.
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Chochiwpg said:
You guys can always take a trip up here to Canada. None of that garbage that Apple is pulling applies here, and we have the same phones to purchase. Peace.
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Click to collapse
Looks like we have a place to stay???
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suaverc118 said:
Looks like we have a place to stay???
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Lol, sure suaverc118 you are welcome to visit
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regardless of the outcome it wont matter to us that already purchased it.
it only affects the remaining inventory at store level, just a minor GUI change and all issues are solved with a new ROM
Walmart has them on sale for 99.98 when you add a new line.. as seen yesterday when I got me pups sum food...and they have the s3 for 179.98. Someone posted in another thread that they have the s2 for 179.99 at Sams club full price. So who knows
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http://www.noticeorange.com/StoryBo...RpY2VvcmFuZ2VyDQsSBFNpdGUY2ZLqAQw&font_size=9
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Our government is so screwed up.
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I wonder if this could help us against Verizon??
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Cool :thumbup:
It's a tricky situation, because even though made "legal" I would think that carriers can still say it violates warranties, etc...
Because contracts and termination fees aren't enough. Now let's limit innovation and consumer choice. 1984...err 2013. Oh well, just guess it won't matter cause the apocalypse is coming 12/21,right?
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mybook4 said:
Because contracts and termination fees aren't enough. Now let's limit innovation and consumer choice. 1984...err 2013. Oh well, just guess it won't matter cause the apocalypse is coming 12/21,right?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Nah, the Mayans didn't account for leap years. We'd already be in 2013 according to their calendar.
I paid money for the device, I own this device. I will do with it as I want..... They might as well deem it illegal to put cases on phones......
tonu42 said:
I paid money for the device, I own this device. I will do with it as I want..... They might as well deem it illegal to put cases on phones......
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Of course it needs to be illegal to put cases on the phone. You putting a case on your phone affects the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) of the device. The poor corporation has counted on that MTBF to ensure future profits for wall street shareholders (you'd replace when it breaks or buy the newer version). We can't get between the poor corporation and it's profit.
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mybook4 said:
Of course it needs to be illegal to put cases on the phone. You putting a case on your phone affects the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) of the device. The poor corporation has counted on that MTBF to ensure future profits for wall street shareholders (you'd replace when it breaks or buy the newer version). We can't get between the poor corporation and it's profit.
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Click to collapse
The corporations are the real victims in all this!
I'm surprised they haven't started a lease option for phones and then charge you based on mileage. Use the GPS to track how much the phone has traveled. Coming soon to a Verizon data plan near you!
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/pe...gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl
I'm not one normally for stuff like thus but something need to be done people who have no idea about technology have no business make choices on how we the user use our phones.
Sent from my HTC One XL using Tapatalk 2
So how are they going to control this? Can't u still get an unlock code on eBay and them never know
What the hell.... why are they doing it I just signed the petition hope the govt take action about it.
This is ridiculous
So does this mean I can't flash custom ROMs anymore for my next phone? Unlocking == Unlock Bootloader? Or Unlocking = Allowing to run on different network is a different process than unlocking the bootloader...idk just confused about the bill if someone could clarify
Carrier unlock, not bootloader unlock
Done, this is a bunch of BS.
Sent from a slithery smooth phone!
I read a few articles about this back in December. Any phones bought before the law went into effect can still be unlocked legally by whatever means a person sees fit. To have an unlocked new device you must either purchase a device already unlocked like the nexus 4 or an iPhone sold buy apple unlocked, or you must get special permission from the carrier. I also remember reading an article about rooting or unlocking tablets becoming illegal unless provided by the manufacture like how Google does with the nexus line (couldn't find any recent articles over this).
moehagene said:
I read a few articles about this back in December. Any phones bought before the law went into effect can still be unlocked legally by whatever means a person sees fit. To have an unlocked new device you must either purchase a device already unlocked like the nexus 4 or an iPhone sold buy apple unlocked, or you must get special permission from the carrier. I also remember reading an article about rooting or unlocking tablets becoming illegal unless provided by the manufacture like how Google does with the nexus line (couldn't find any recent articles over this).
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I think this only applies to phones. Tablets are considered PCs and as such can be modified to the user's content.
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I waited til today to unlock my phone just to say **** you government
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XxSHaDoWxSLaYeRxX said:
I waited til today to unlock my phone just to say **** you government
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Click to collapse
Nice! From now on I'll make unlocking phones a hobby!!!
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Artood2s said:
I think this only applies to phones. Tablets are considered PCs and as such can be modified to the user's content.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
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The new law now prevents unauthorized tinkering of tablets sold and distributed in the United States. However, the rule applies for devices governed by telcos' exclusive contracts, most of which expire after two years. I added two different links from a basic Google search.
http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/4277...-smartphone-unlocking-tablet.htm#.UQS1A79EHQg
http://bgr.com/2013/01/24/smartphone-unlocking-illegal-303627/
'....the land of the free.....'
Isn't there an amendment about phones? I mean you guys have free speech and guns.....
So does this or does this not include bootloader unlocks?
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TheEmpyre said:
So does this or does this not include bootloader unlocks?
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No just Sim unlocks
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CheesyNutz said:
No just Sim unlocks
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a lot of FUD going around. Even The Verge (90 Seconds), had a spot that was vague and seemed to suggest that bootloader unlocking was now illegal (already gone through the courts and confirmed legal).
I think the new law is a net zero effect. Nothing really changes except that carriers have the option of pursuing you legally for taking their phone (your phone) off their network. I don't see them putting a lot of resources into enforcement.
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marijuana king said:
So how are they going to control this? Can't u still get an unlock code on eBay and them never know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can Anyone clear that up?
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CheesyNutz said:
No just Sim unlocks
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the clarification
sorry my phone needs a breathalyzer to prevent me from posting nonsense
Bump....
mounttimp said:
Bump....
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Why bump this thread?
Recently, I was sent this link to ask the US Government to make locking bootloaders illegal. I want to share this with probably the largest community that it effects everyday. http://wh.gov/VrYQ all you have to do is sign in and sign the petition. Please do this.
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Locked bootloaders actually have some purpose... What you should really be focused on is the petition to make unlocking phone legal, as the US Government has made it illegal outside of an official carrier unlock
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There is no purpose of a locked bootloader
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papi92 said:
There is no purpose of a locked bootloader
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, there is.
Sure, it's inconvenient in the process of modding and nobody, I included, will argue in favour of things like Motorola's eFuse protection, but a locked bootloader provides security benefits.
Locked bootloaders serve a purpose to the greater society as it is insurance against total devastation of the Phone OS. It's not a secret carriers use this to force "us" into their models and lock us out of our own phones, but I like the balance we have now. The market and community is handling itself just fine.
If there should be a law, it should benefit the greater society and not just a single group.
Why not use Samsung's methods?
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