Think mrailing's referring to the Copyright Office ruling of 11/06. This matter is a bit awkward.

Essentially, the decision was this:
For the next three years (or longer if renewed), "unlocking" a handset cannot be deemed a violation of copyright protection issued to the developer, or owner, of a handset's firmware. Thus, one is now permitted to "hack," with impunity, a subsidy-lock.

The bad news is that carriers are neither obliged to supply an unlock code nor to permit "foreign" devices on their networks. In the case of GSM carriers, there's been, for some time, a degree of permissiveness regarding the above. T-Mo and AT&T/Cing will supply unlock codes under certain conditions (e.g., cust in good standing for 90 days, traveling overseas, etc.), and neither carrier imposes a restriction on devices. All that's required to activate a "rogue" GSM unit on either network--assuming frequency compatibility--is a valid SIM.

Regarding CDMA devices, the issue plays out a bit differently. CDMA units aren't subsidy-locked per se, so there's no "unlocking" sport involved; these devices are ESN-qualified and 'serve at the pleasure of the carrier'. What this means is that if a CDMA carrier will allow your non-branded unit on its network, you're good to go. Of late, VZW has returned to a fairly civilized policy and will allow many (but not necessarily all) non-VZW CDMA radios to activate on its system, especially if similar gear is sold by VZW.

But Sprint takes an odd and baffling fork in the road. It continues to demand that all hardware on its network be Sprint-branded. This policy is unaccountable--particularly as Sprint offers a generally inferior fleet of devices and needs every new subscriber it can get. Who cares where the handset originated?! Just honor it and get out of the way! But then, Sprint has a 20+-year legacy of bungled business operations. Sad.

To appreciate the irrelevancy of Sprint's culture, just look to this acronym: Southern Pacific Railroad Information NeTwork.

So, to answer the question, no, Sprint will not activate a VZW SCH-i760. As to whether Sprint will offer an equivalent device (months) down the road, we don't know.

--BAM

Note: A carrier's willingness to activate a "foreign" device does not imply a warranty of suitability for use on its network, or confer assurance that all functions will operate. For example, the carrier's custom UI or feature set may not be available for installation (flashing) on a particular handset; in effect, the unit will be unsupported.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2064707,00.asp

http://www.computers.net/2006/12/unlock_your_cel.html