When the White House embraced an online petition earlier this month to legalize cellphone unlocking, it marked another key milestone in the rising importance of technology policy issues.

The petition, which garnered more than 114,000 signatures, was created to draw attention to an obscure rule change preventing consumers from unlocking mobile devices bought after January. The effort gained steam quickly, prompting statements of support from the White House, the Federal Communications Commission and a host of lawmakers.

In the few weeks since then, allowing consumers to unlock their cellphones and tablets so they can switch wireless carriers has quickly become the default position on the Hill. Members of the House and Senate have rushed to offer legislation, but the bills each tackle the problem differently, with varying permanence. The range of approaches and the debate over their efficacy demonstrates again how tech issues span multiple policy areas and remain highly opaque to all but a handful of stakeholders.

In a rule change that took effect Jan. 28, the librarian of Congress narrowed an exemption in the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act that previously allowed consumers to unlock their mobile devices. Obama administration officials criticized that move on March 4, saying it went against the administration’s own earlier internal recommendation, and pledged to back a narrow legislative fix.

Some mobile devices are sold unlocked, while others require the installation of a software program or other means to circumvent a pre-assigned wireless carrier.