Slashdot Mirror
Jailbreaking iPhone Now Legal
whisper_jeff writes "The US government on Monday announced new rules making it officially legal for iPhone owners to 'jailbreak' their device and run unauthorized third-party applications, as well as the ability to unlock any cell phone for use on multiple carriers."
The EFF has further details on this and some of the other legal protections granted in the new rules.
Sudden outbreak of common sense.
Press release from EFF:
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2010/07/26
Now we are going to see a torrent of pornography for the iPhone! Think of the children!
Palm trees and 8
Jailbreaking iPhone WAS Legal.
Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
He'll be in his angry dome!
If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
The real story is the video remixing: "EFF also won a groundbreaking new protection for video remix artists currently thriving on Internet sites like YouTube. The new rule holds that amateur creators do not violate the DMCA when they use short excerpts from DVDs in order to create new, noncommercial works for purposes of criticism or comment if they believe that circumvention is necessary to fulfill that purpose. Hollywood has historically taken the view that "ripping" DVDs is always a violation of the DMCA, no matter the purpose."
One of the things I dislike about having things solved with regulation as opposed to laws is that regulations typically fall under the executive branch, and as such could change on a whim as administrations change. I see from the article that this is part of an list of exemptions (from the DMCA?) that is set by the U.S. Copyright Office in the Library of Congress. At a risk of showing my ignorance, is this a Legislative office, or an Executive one? How are its members appointed, how easy is it for them to add/revoke things, etc?
Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
So do these new exceptions apply to the iPod Touch as well? I would assume so since it's the same app process, but RFA only mentioned phones. Also what about the Playstation 3 and how they don't allow Linux anymore, would this fall under this, too?
I don't think legality was holding people back. It mainly was the technical expertise to do so.
I think jailbreaking will be still limited to the hobbiest.
To use a car analogy (Which will be replied to with a better analogy proving me wrong):
Now everyone can put "illegal" flamethrower pipes on their car and not get arrested, but who's going to do it but hobbiest?
Note that the Librarian of Congress Rulemaking provision only exempts the circumvention provisions of the DMCA. The Librarian cannot exempt individuals from the distribution provisions of the DMCA.
So, while you can now legally jailbreak your phone, it would still be illegal to distribute the software program itself.
Good. I still don't want an iPhone.
ACs can't even log in yet and you expect them to be able to figure out how to link? ;)
Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
That Apple isn't allowed to do anything warranty-wise if you jailbreak your iphone in the future? Could they refuse to replace a broken glass screen if they find out your iphone is or was ever jailbroken, JUST BECAUSE it was jailbroken?
Otherwise I don't see any implications for the end user. It's not like if you went into an Apple store with a jailbroken iphone the authorities were called to arrest you. Also, the people involved in the jailbreak process haven't exactly been trying to hide their work, they even have videos of them in the process.
I think you should contact the EFF about this issue.
I've always felt that once I've bought a device it's mine to do with as I please. If I want to disassemble it, format it, load a copy of CP/M on it or cut it in half with a skill saw, that's my business.
But I certainly don't feel entitled to warranty support after I've gone out of the reasonable bounds of what the company expected me to do with the product.
They never sold the phone as a general purpose device that I can load whatever I want to on it, they shouldn't have to support it as such.
I'll gladly demand my right to enough rope to hang myself with, but only with the understanding that that is exactly what I'm getting.
"Just like all the RIM phones"? What's your problem with a Java development environment which allows you to develop apps or to install those developed by RIM either through your desktop or BES, with RIM neither knowing nor caring?
First off, rooting android is not the same as jailbreaking iphone. If your android comes with "enable unknown sources" which most devices do (except some ATT versions) then you can get most of the functionality you need through 3rd party apps or apk files. For example if I develop a new app, I don't need to go through the provisioning BS that apple makes you go through. I just get a device, drop the apk on it, and test it. I don't need to have the phone hooked up to a computer or anything.
Most of the people rooting android are interested in a fully customized/3rd party rom, not just root privileges. That's way different than Apple because most of the people jailbreaking iphones are interested in apps that aren't blessed by Apple.
So how long will it be before people are thoroughly bricking their own iPhones with bad firmware updates and bad applications, getting their identities stolen, then blaming Apple? I can smell the lawyers and the puddles already.
If people want to jailbreak their cell phones, fine, but with that comes absolute responsibility. Not one word of blame on the provider or manufacturer, including when your credit card is suddenly maxed from Thailand, or when the FCC comes knocking on your door because you downloaded a cell-tower spammer that you thought was a jiggly-boobs app. You don't get to sue, you don't get to say it's Apple's fault, and you get to pay for the trouble you cause.
Scream "freedom" all you want, but recognize that with it comes the full burden of the consequences of your actions. If... and only if... you can handle that, enjoy your iPhone on T-mobile or wherever else. I'm all for being able to go to other carriers, but if the process involves downloading a firmware image from Russia, yeah, I'll pass.
Everybody gets what the majority deserves.
I never needed the government's permission before why should I now?
Relaxing imaginary DMCA restrictions makes the new government look like a hero while quietly ignoring the elephant in the room.
Should our leaders be lauded for adding exceptions to an already complex legal system. Is it impossible for us to tear down two laws and replace it with one simpler law. Or will entropy in this political organism carry us to our downfall?
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Not true. By clarifing how the law is to be applied this is limiting how media companies (and phone manufacturers) can use the existing DMCA to limit use. This was already being done by Apple and big media to limit fair use. Obviously the blurred line between hardware and software (especially in phones) is the real tricky part of this, and the one which needed clarification.
I still hate the DMCA, but (and yes, I have to bring politics into this) it looks like the Obama Administration finally got something right in regards to copyright and fair use/first sale.
you're holding it wrong
Freeeeeeeeedoooooooooom!!!!!
I am guessing we will see allot more efuse (Droid) type approaches in the future. Considering this current ruling, I wound if the vender is held legally responsable for damaging (aka bricking) a device if the intent is to prevent it from being tampered with?
Stop spreading this. It's not true. Did you know practically every embedded chip shipping these days has eFuses in it? Do you know what they're used for? Configuration, unique IDs (e.g MAC address) and other minor things. NOT to cause bricking.
This whole thing started from a so-called hacker putting 2 + 2 together and getting 23948304958. He has no idea what he's talking about, and this has been refuted many times. But it's so easy to start a malicious rumor in the tech press these days because the tech press apparently has nobody who fact checks.
You must not have used early versions of X11. Back in the old days you needed to enter in the horizontal and vertical refresh rates and resolutions... Improper configuration could damage some CRT screens.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
it looks like the Obama Administration finally got something right in regards to copyright and fair use/first sale.
I'm an Obama supporter, but Obama had nothing to do with this. The Copyright Office is a part of the Library of Congress, which is a creature of Congress. The new exemptions were recommended by the Registrar of Copyrights, Marybeth Peters, who has been in office since 1994. Her boss, the Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington, has been in office since 1987.
I agree with both your post and the parent, the question arises when you install software that, say, makes the hardware do things that the original software was designed not to.
I remember running linux on a laptop that had dodgy power management, the fans wouldn't turn on when the cpu started to heat up. Eventually the hardware cut out would switch the laptop off when the cpu hit 100 Celsius. Eventually the laptop died by way of failed charging connection - I can't say whether or not it was related to the excessive heating and cooling.
If you install some 3rd party OS on your iPhone that creams the cpu and it, say, discolours the screen, or maybe cracks the case - then surely you can't expect a warranty replacement? I'm not suggesting you would try and pull that one, but I'm sure there are others who may not be so scrupulous.
Invaders must die
No, it is *exactly* the same thing.
Whatever motivations are behind it are irrelevant, it is *exactly* the same.
I see what you're trying to do (downplay the negatives about Android vendor lock phones and the need to root them to be able to do things with them), but in reality, both iPhone and some Android phones have this problem.
Bricked is the new "literally".
Only in the United States.
Unless Apple is somehow magically immune to the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, that is how it works. Why nobody appears to be calling Apple out on it, I don't know.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz