I had worked in Congress as a staffer for three years, but I had never just sat in the House gallery – as a citizen, a citizen with a cellphone – until this Wednesday. But the campaign I had helped lead – for citizens to do what they wanted with their cellphones – was finally coming to fruition. Here were our elected leaders in a room, voting for us to use technology as we see fit.

But it wasn’t always this way – it wasn’t always democratic – for the state of our unlocked cellphones. Indeed, you’re still potentially a felon if you unlock a new device. And it still doesn’t have to be this way. Just because we’re not afraid of the telecom industry doesn’t mean your Congressman should be.

A year ago, the Librarian of Congress – James Billington, an 84-year-old copyright czar of our digital age – issued a ruling that made it illegal for an American to unlock his or her smartphone, potentially with up to five years in prison and $500,000 on the line (or at least with a civil penalty). Unlocking, for anyone still stuck with a flip-phone or a bad contract they haven’t tried to wriggle out of, is what happens when a consumer alters a phone’s setting to use it with a different carrier. It’s a pretty simple trick, previously allowed from 2006-2012 and used by people around the world to, say, get a better monthly deal on their iPhones. Except, well, since January 28, 2013, it’s been against the law in the United States.

It was all typical Washington, where a policy perspective without lobbyists and special interests is one that doesn’t exist. There were winners and losers, but mostly losers among us, and all for one pretty obvious reason: the Wireless Association (CTIA) had hired K Street lawyers and telecom “yes” men to petition Billington into altering the existing protection. With his ruling, millions of people became potential criminals for using their own property how they wanted. Small businesses that offered unlocking services shut down overnight. The phone resale market – largely for people who can’t afford iPhones – began to dry up.

After leaving Congress, of course I continued to discuss the unlock gridlock with Hill staffers and members of Congress. And, this being the Hill and Congress, of course they had no appetite for solving the problem. Even though everyone seemed to think it was ridiculous that such a simple thing couldn’t be fixed, plenty of House aides overtly talked to me about the power of the mobile phone lobby as being strong enough to prevent any action on behalf of consumers. And with AT&T and Verizon as two of the top 10 lobbying companies in DC, we were talking about any action whatsoever. I decided to strike out on my own and launch a campaign on this issue, and in the process I had to confront openly hostile lobbyists at coalition meetings accusing me of being against “contract law” or wanting to “fight the man”.

Now, after 13 months of hard work, unlocking is still illegal, but we’re finally beginning to see a solution in sight.

On Wednesday, while I watched in the House gallery, the phone unlocking legislation (HR 1123) passed the House of Representatives, 295-114, and it’s already on its way to the Senate. While this legislation isn’t perfect, it’s a big step in the right direction: it allows consumers to unlock their devices without being criminally or civilly liable. But at the midnight hour, lobbyists helped add new language to a bill that had already passed the Judiciary Committee – a poorly worded caveat intended to block “bulk unlockers”, which is part of the resale market.

But here’s the rub: the law, if passed by the Senate and possibly with revisions from the House, only lasts until 2015, when the Librarian of Congress will be able to rule on this simple issue all over again. And we’re here at this ridiculous juncture in the first place … because the Librarian ruled against unlocking. And he may very well rule against it once again.

So how can we fix this right now, free from the power of AT&T, Verizon and all the rest? The Senate could choose to take up the House legislation, write its own or improve on the existing bill. Language submitted by Rep Zoe Lofgren of California could easily fix the “bulk unlockers” issue – and the Senate should include it if they take up HR 1123. But in an ideal world – in a democratic world – Senators would ask themselves a simple question: Why do we continue to delegate decisions on banning modern technology to a single 84-year-old man? This is an opportunity for the Senate to pass a permanent fix to the unlocking conundrum, one that would provide certainty to businesses and consumers alike. Such a sweeping law could and should apply to tablets, too, and allow for jailbreaking iPhones and iPads while you’re at it. Indeed, a bill like was already written in the House, and it has widespread, bipartisan support.

In some form or another, it probably won’t be illegal for you to switch your carrier with the phone you have for much longer. Already each phone carrier has agreed to voluntary principles with the FCC, wherein the telecoms will allow their consumers to unlock, so long as they have fulfilled their contracts. But this whole mess never would have been solved in the first place if the American people hadn’t stood up and demanded action.

Just because the modus operandi of Washington DC is to try and allow SOPA and PIPA-style legislation, to allow a ban on basic technology that millions use to go into effect, well, that doesn’t mean the modus operandi is irreversible. The self-interest behind the status quo is powerful, but not unbreakable. As Rep Lofgren of California said of SOPA/PIPA, “The bill was inevitable until it became unthinkable”.

We cannot expect technology companies to represent the voice of innovation in Washington, because they won’t. It’s up to the rest us to stand up for personal freedom, for innovation, and to protect the free market against cronyism. In 2012, a mass movement stopped SOPA and PIPA. This week, after a 2013 clouded by one of the stupidest laws in recent memory, common sense prevailed once more.