$50!!!

1. iphoneunlocking.com had 450,000 folks register.
2. Estimate unlock market price at $50.00
3. $50.00 x 450,000 = $22,500,000 revenue.
4. Pay a team of 10 experienced baseband/reverse engineering developers $25,000 each = $250,000 in costs
5. This yields $22,250,000 in profit for the investor, minus some trivial web site/customer service costs (assuming the investor is first to market, and can capture all 450,000 customers)

The rules of business opportunity are irrefutable. So, does anyone think (at least some) dev team members might be associated with these commercial unlock sites?

The second proven concept is that of supply-and-demand equilibrium. If the first to market tries something greedy, like charging $100 per unlock, sure, some of us will pay. But, if you wait for the second entrant, competitive pressure will drive the price back down to equilibrium.

The point? I encourage our early-adopter community to "try" to set a price point that would be acceptable given two suppliers in the market. If the "majority" of us stick to it, then maybe we won't end up getting screwed.

the more competition the better. lower them prices!

There is no way anyone is going to make more than $2,000,000 off the Iphone unlock. I bet that in less than a week after the Software unlock comes out, a free unlock will be out. Prices are going to drop like a rock when the unlock comes out.

I ask again--and I really don't know if this is a silly question--but what is preventing the software from being shared once it's released? Does each one have a unique code?

I'm sure they will have some sort of unique code, but once a few smart people get a hold of the code I'm sure they will be able to modify so it works for everyone for free. I don't think it is going to be very profitable to sell ways to unlock the iphone.