[justin66]

> Also, an agreement Verizon signed when buying their LTE spectrum from the FCC says that all Verizon LTE devices must be carrier-unlocked out of the box[2].

> However, Verizon will refuse to activate any device that was not originally sold for use on its network (they use a unique device hardware ID for this).

Which is a violation of those FCC rules you linked to. It's monopolistic, shitty behavior.

> AT&T and T-Mobile don't do this.

> Therefore, for maximum flexibility, buy Verizon versions of recent Apple devices.

Or just avoid Verizon entirely. That way you won't be rewarding their bad behavior.