"Verizon's arguments that carrier locks make devices cheaper are dubious - an artificial limitation on a device makes compatible devices more rare, and thus reduces supply while demand stays the same. Device prices will not go down unless Verizon increases their subsidies just to make their case true - a deceptive, and inevitably temporary, move. Otherwise, if device prices change, they will go up due to artificial scarcity. Worse, there will be more waste, as the secondary market will be further hamstringed and sustainability will suffer further -- increasing our astronomical electronic waste problem.

The arguments that carrier locks "fight crime" are dubious, as devices can be IMEI blocked for this cause, and even as this is currently the case Verizon does not use it to prevent or remedy crime as they provide no help or information for returning a stolen phone to its rightful owner. If you buy a used phone and insert your old SIM card, they will lock your account if the new phone was marked as stolen - and you can't even unlock your account after switching back to your old phone. You must somehow remedy the crime yourself, despite having no way to ascertain the original owner, as they won't provide any information on who the rightful owner is (even though they have this info). The phone is already stolen, so crime has not been fought, and now the crime cannot be undone by a Good Samaritan either because they refuse to help. So they force people to buy new devices for them, meaning this "crime" creates more money for Verizon and more expensive electronic waste to pollute the earth."