Poll: Are iPhone-AT&T unlock software, hacks, good things?

By now, you may know that:

Last week, a 17 year-old kid published a hack-fest on his blog instructing how to unlock the iPhone from its five-year AT&T lockup;

And over the weekend, iPhoneUnlocking.com and its UniquePhones team decided not to offer a downloadable utility that would accomplish this same task. They were set to offer this download until they received a forthright warning from a law firm in Menlo Park, Cal.

As we stand today, the current and kjnown iPhone unlock options are the rather complex 10-step workaround this kid has proposed, or third-party software that may or may not ever be released.

There's something about knowledge once it becomes available. The genie won't fit back into the bottle. You can count on less complex workarounds, and maybe even some iPhone unlocking software that is released for download or swapped via P2P by individuals or companies that aren't going to be intimidated by lawyers.

Having iPhone-locking utilities doesn't make it right, though. I detest phones locked to work with only one provider as much as you do, but the way to change this state of affairs is not through hacks. It's through market pressure, regulation (sorry, Ron Paul fans) or a combination of both.

Now, let's do a poll and see what you think.

[poll id=129]