Less than two weeks after a petition at the We The folk site crossed the 100,000 signature threshold, the White House has issued on official response on making cellphone unlocking legal again.

And they totally support it.

In an announcement that could only be seen as an important win for activists during this arena, the White House just announced that “it’s time to legalize cellphone unlocking.”

“The White House agrees with the 114,000+ of you who believe that buyers must be ready to unlock their cellphones without risking criminal or other penalties,” said Senior Advisor for Internet, Innovation, & Privacy David Edelman. “In reality, we believe the identical principle also needs to apply to tablets, that are increasingly corresponding to smart phones. And when you’ve got paid in your mobile device, and aren’t bound by a service agreement or other obligation, try to be ready to apply it to another network. It’s logic, crucial for safeguarding consumer choice, and critical for ensuring we continue to have the colourful, competitive wireless market that delivers innovative products and solid service to fulfill consumers’ needs.”

In January, unlocking new cellphones became illegal via a choice from the Library of Congress. Briefly, they reversed their decision to exempt cellphone unlocking from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It’s still legal to unlock phones purchased before January 26th, but doing so on any device purchased after that cutoff mean you can run afoul of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Edelman goes directly to explain that the dept of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and data Administration (NTIA) previously made their opinion at the matter known full support for the idea of cellphone unlocking. But that the NTIA’s recommendation was ultimately rejected by the Library of Congress.

The Library of Congress also released a press release.

“The rulemaking is a technical, legal proceeding and involves a lengthy public process,” they said.

And although they recognize that “rulemaking serves a vital function, nevertheless it was not intended to be an alternative choice to deliberations of broader public policy,” it doesn’t seem like the Library is planning on fast-tracking the desire of the folk here (and now the White House).

“Clearly the White House and Library of Congress agree that the DMCA exception process is a rigid and imperfect fit for this telecommunications issue, and we wish to ensure this actual challenge for mobile competition is solved,” said Edelman, also noting that the White House respects the method performed by the Librarian of building and eliminating exceptions as a result having to do with the DMCA.

Here’s what the White House says about moving forward:

The Obama Administration would support various approaches to addressing this issue, including narrow legislative fixes within the telecommunications space that make it clear: neither criminal law nor technological locks should prevent consumers from switching carriers after they aren’t any longer bound by a service agreement or other obligation.

We also believe the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), with its responsibility for promoting mobile competition and innovation, has a vital role to play here. FCC Chairman Genachowski today voiced his concern about cellular phone unlocking, and to counterpoint his efforts, NTIA can be formally engaging with the FCC because it addresses this urgent issue.

Last week, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said that the FCC will be looking into the problem.