When the iPhone went on sale in France in November, French law required Orange, the local iPhone retailer, to sell a "carrier-independent" phone. This "unlocked" phone is priced at €749 instead of the standard €399. iPhone Atlas is reporting that the unlocked phones aren't fully unlocked, but are instead country-locked to French carriers only. I'm not a French lawyer, but this would seem to comply with the "carrier-independent" requirement in a wonderfully perverse and legalistic way, souring the plans of many resellers who wanted to bring back loads of unlocked phones from France. Can any of our French readers confirm this? Oh wait, I know a guy who's in France. I'll give him a call. (Photo by chefranden)

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