This morning, we told you about Jef, an iPhone unlocker in New York who was selling his services on Craigslist over the weekend. After Jef saw his posts selling a quick iPhone unlock procedure flagged and removed from the site, he decided to offer the service for a trade rather than cash. See "Brooklynite Offers IPhone Unlocking In Exchange for Free Bagels."
Jef's "trade me" post was then flagged and removed. So, he wrote another post offering the same service for free, only to see that one also flagged and removed by the community.
What do Craigslist users have against iPhone unlockers? Judging by the discussion on the CL forums around flagging and iPhones, there are a few factors at play.
First and foremost, many posters are putting their unlock services in
"For Sale" rather than "Services," and that's grounds for flagging. Jef
moved his posts to "Free Stuff" and also to "Services," but he says he
isn't expecting much play -- those categories on Craigslist are
significantly less popular than "For Sale," which is also the default
category in the search box on the site's front door.
Second, some iPhone posters are getting flagged for selling illegal goods. This is evidence of some people acting upon misinformation, since an unlocked iPhone is not illegal. Selling an unlocking service is also not illegal. A 2006 federal ruling exempted mobile phone unlocking from the DMCA. Read the exemption here (PDF link).
Third -- and this is where things get a little gray -- most of the posters are being flagged as scalpers or spammers. There's nothing in Craigslist's Terms of Use which says you can't sell unlocking services. There's also nothing stating that you can't offer an unlocked phone at a premium price. But look at the FAQ and you'll see that reselling for a premium is considered scalping, an activity which might get you flagged.
Craigslist is a community-moderated site, so whatever the community doesn't like gets weeded out. More importantly, the decision regarding whether your asking price is too high is also up to the community. In this case, it depends on which community you're a part of. Based solely on the locations of those posting in the forums, New Yorkers and Atlanteans seem to be experiencing the brunt of iPhone unlock flagging. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, quite a few posts have remained up for several hours or days, even though they're in the "For Sale" category.
Any Craigslist regulars who care to chime in here, feel free to post in the comments.
Photo: Ki???n Ph?m via Flickr
