How do I get Apple to unlock a Verizon unlocked 4s to use domestically on a GSM network?

Only the carrier can unlock the phone. You need to contact Verizon.

I do not believe the Verizon 4s will work on GSM in the US.

http://www.cnet.com/news/why-you-cant-take-your-unlocked-iphone-4s-to-another-u- s-carrier/

Apple does not determine unlocking of phones, that is done by the carrier. In the US, domestic carriers will not allow it, that is why. If you have an issue with that, you would need to discuss that with Verizon. Just like you cannot use a Sprint phone on Verizon, or a Verizon phone on Sprint, you cannot use an AT&T phone on either, and neither of the other phones on AT&T. That is the way the domestic carriers are in control of it. It is their doing, not Apple's.

Apple does not unlock phones. Only your cellular provider can unlock your phone. Contact Verizon.

Rocky Caldwell wrote:

Apparently, Apple maintains a kind of Black list to restrict usage of the phone to the original domestic carrier. This is in contradiction to the "Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act", or S.517/Public Law 113-144, which went into effect August 1, 2014.

As already stated, Apple does not have any control over this. It is entirely up to the carrier. And while the law you cite is interesting, it does NOT require carriers to unlock phones. It merely clarifies that it is not illegal to unlock a phone if you can figure out how to do it. It actually HAD been illegal in the past.

Rocky Caldwell wrote:

I have 4 iPhone 4S's in my family. The contract with Verizon ended on December 5, 2013. Early in 2014 I requested from Verizon that all 4 iPhones be unlocked, which was done and confirmed by Verizon. However, subsequently I have learned that the Verizon unlocking only allows use on international GSM networks (which of course shows that the 4S is capable of GSM usage), and I want to be able to use them domestically. Apparently, Apple maintains a kind of Black list to restrict usage of the phone to the original domestic carrier. This is in contradiction to the "Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act", or S.517/Public Law 113-144, which went into effect August 1, 2014.

When I insert a active AT&T GSM SIM card into the 4S I receive the following notice:

The SIM card that you currently have installed in this iPhone is from a carrier that is not supported under the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server. This is not a hardware issue with the iPhone. Please insert another SIM card from a supported carrier or request that this iPhone be unlocked by your carrier. Please contact Apple for more information.

How do I get Apple to unlock these phones for domestic GSM use?

It's funny that you're totally misreading and understand that law. All it does is make it legal to 'jailbreak' your device. It doesn't force the wireless carrier to allow you to unlock the device under the normal means.

Previously, jailbreaking your device was illegal. Now, it's not. But it doesn't mean that the wireless carrier, or anyone else, has to provide assistance to you.

Show me where in that law that it states that a wireless carrier must assist you.

Your device was unlocked. Unfortunately, right now, domestic carriers will not allow the activation. It has been that way for a long time, and I'm not sure that even this law, is going to change the way that domestic carriers "play together".

Yes, it shows that it is an option, but not a requirement. If wireless carrier B chooses to help you move the service of an iPhone from wireless carrier A, over to wireless carrier B, then wireless carrier B isn't going to get in trouble.

So, you are permitted to unlock the device using other methods. But Verizon is not required to assist you.

So, if 'Bob's Discount Wireless Service' wants to help you change the carrier, that's fine. But Verizon doesn't have to help them. Nothing in that law forces Verizon to do anything.

I see nothing in the text you quoted that requires a carrier to unlock a phone locked to that carrier. Because there isn't any such requirement. It doesn't mention jailbreaking because that is specifically an iPhone underground term. It's a poorly worded law, but that's partly because the writers of it did not want to antagonize major political contributors (that is, telecommunications providers).

Still won't happen, and there has been litigation in the past. That is what precipitated the change to the law, but that just helps the process. You are not going to get another domestic carrier to allow you to use the phone. At least not that older one. The newer ones are different, especially when getting the Verizon version, because beginning with the iPhone 5, they had to have the GSM side freely unlocked as part of an FCC settlement for obtaining additional LTE bandwidth. The 4s is not an LTE capable phone, so it did not fall under that ruling.

Rocky Caldwell wrote:

I agree with most everything you say. Just to add a bit though, the threat of disclosure of the anticompetitive nature of what they are doing is very powerful. Also keep in mind, that the recent changes in plans - buying the phones on an installment with no contract (started by T-Mobile, I think), the lower overseas rates (also T-Mobile), increased data (maybe Sprint, then AT&T) shows that there is indeed some competition. Of course T-Mobile is Deutsche Telekom, so they have the most to gain and the least to lose. My understanding is that it is an MEID lock in the Apple iTunes servers. This allows for prevention of usage of stolen phones. No single carrier could do it for an Apple phone - it has to be Apple, through iTunes. So since they can black list stolen phones, it is simple to prevent activation of an iPhone on another network. No one seems to want to understand that it is in all probability Apple. They maintain the only global database of MEID's and are the only ones that can turn off a phone for any network in the world. Therefore, they are logically the ones that maintain the MEID block on unlocked (international usage) iPhones, and the only ones therefore capable of having a MEID block for any reason at all (network).

You have good points, but you are confusing 3 different things. Activation Lock is based on iCloud ID associated with the phone's serial number, carrier lock is by IMEI (for GSM) and MEID (for CDMA). Yes, Apple maintains the database of lock status of all iPhones, but the phone records in that database are owned by the individual carriers. Apple is just the agent that maintains the database under contact with the carriers, and can legally only change the lock status by request from the carrier. Apple does not have the legal authority to unlock a phone without authorization from the carrier that owns the record for the phone.

MEID/IMEI blacklisting has nothing to do with Apple; it is implemented by the carrier, and it is not just for iPhones. Some carriers cooperate and will honor an IMEI blacklist from another carrier, but not all do (particularly carriers in other countries).