Is it legal to unblock or unlock an iphone in the U.S.?

Is it legal to unblock or unlock an i-phone? In the US only. If someone finds my phone and I reported lost, is there anything done to the person who finds it and unblocks it? What is the real difference between unlocking and unblocking?

I don't believe there is any way to physically block a lost phone in the US. AT&T won't block it so if a lost or stolen iPhone is activated the not much if anything needs to be done by the person who 'found' the phone.
As far as unlocking an iPhone goes, only the carrier can do that (for an official unlock) and AT&T doesn't unlock iPhones. It is not illegal to hack an iPhone (not supported by apple though) and by hacking the iPhone it may be possible to unlock it with third party software which is not illegal. Apple would probably like it to be illegal though....

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