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EFF Asks To Make Jailbreaking Legal For All Devices
Diggester writes "Jailbreaking is a way to break off from the limitations imposed by the mobile vendor to download additional applications and themes etc. which aren't available otherwise. It provides root access to the device by use of custom kernels. It is common with the iDevices and has been rendered legal by the efforts of EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) in July 2010. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is now determined to make Jailbreaking legal for all the consumer electric goods. They have asked the US copyright office to declare it legal to jailbreak all the devices like smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles etc. no matter who the vendor is. The aim behind this plead is to change the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) which prohibits such an access to the user."
Imagine if it were illegal to reformat your harddrive on your PC.
lusers != Linux Users.
Does the US Copyright Office have the authority to make such a declaration? It seems to me like this would require an act of Congress or a declaration by the executive that they won't enforce the DMCA.
I'd have RTFA, but there's no href in that a tag.
I vaguely recall a judge pretty much saying that jailbreaking is not illegal, but may void the warranty. I only remember due to the large number of jokes of how Steve Jobs was just loving it since he now didn't have to support millions of jailbroken phones.
Legislative action would be nice, but if it's already done, then let's not waste the time.
We don't live in Shouldland.
the depressing part is, this was the 5th comment and the first one to actually try to RTA
The real problem is that devices are Subsidized. If you don't pay for all of the device, should the company be able to lock you in on the device? I think they should. If they can't then it becomes harder for them to make their money back and they will stop subsidizing devices. Once the contract is over, or if you paid full price, then you should be able to do whatever you want.
I'm sure Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo will now be even determined to make sure your console only works with a network connection. At least they'll still be able to ban users from their network for jailbreaking consoles.
(I'm one of the few Slashdotters who's anti-piracy because I think stopping piracy increases the incentive for developers to invest time and money creating software for the platform. No wonder all the huge growth in game-sales over the past ten years has been in consoles, while PC sales have actually declined.)
SFLC's request would be a bigger win. Here's their submission:
https://www.softwarefreedom.org/resources/2011/SFLC-proposed-DMCA-exemption.pdf
And their press release gives an introduction:
http://softwarefreedom.org/news/2011/dec/02/proposed-dmca-exemption/
Expert in software patents or patent law? Contribute to the ESP wiki!
The first link in this story links to... this story.
Are we allowed to jailbreak automotive computers, like the engine control units that run our cars? You know the ones that monitor and control things like coolant temperature, cruise control, the best spark timing and how long the fuel injector stays open, the amount of oxygen in the exhaust for calculating emissions and fuel economy.
This is a bit of a side question, but it begs to be asked: I've often wondered if there is a rep or senator that actually knows what the difference between "computer" and "CPU" without help from his staff.
I've actually considered running for office for these types of laws to be passed (REAL net-neutrality, get rid of software patents, etc). The more I get older, the more I'm convinced that most politicians are just mouthpieces of a PR firm that has voting privileges.
We don't live in Shouldland.
I wonder what implications this has for XBox, Wii, PlayStation, etc.
Horseshit. If someone quits paying for your services and they've jailbroken an associated product, then bill them for the device and add any subsidization costs onto the early termination fees.
I don't know how much difference the legality will make when jailbreaking will continue to void your warranty/ violate the ToS/EULA for whatever you're jailbreaking. I really doubt breaking the law is the reason most people don't mod their Xboxes, for example.
Isn't enough that I ruined a pony, making a gift for you?
They've asked for a DMCA exception for:
So, for any device you buy, you can install GNU/Linux, or Rockbox, or OpenWRT, or Sugar, OpenMoko, etc.
Their argument is based on recognising the value of the jailbreak-exemption which was granted in 2009, and saying that SFLC's suggested exemtion is what's needed in 2012 and beyond to achieve that same sort of goal.
There's no dense legalese in the document. It's a readable set of arguments with numbers and examples to back them up.
Expert in software patents or patent law? Contribute to the ESP wiki!
If you cannot do what you like with you hardware then you obviously do not own it. If you do not own it you are not responsible for recycling it. Which means you just have to return all your old devices the store where you got them and it is there problem (cost) to recycle.
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
good EFF'ing luck with that.
...you don't own it.
mfwright@batnet.com
Manufacturers won't have to void warranties for jailbroken devices. They can just deny owners access to online services like Xbox LIVE and the App Store because security can't be guaranteed if modded devices are allowed into a walled garden.
Isn't there a complication for phones? Jailbreaking your PS3 is one thing but a phone device connects to the phone network and falls under FCC jurisdiction in the U.S. Is it possible that jailbreaking may void the FCC license that allows the device to connect to the phone network?
with say ford only said you can use BP gas or locked out jiffy lube and other non dealer service centers?
will have a fucking heart attack and throw 200,000 into a lobbyist's bag. Crippleware is their bread and butter.
If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
Its why you can use generic toner in most laser printers.
What if windows locked you into IE and windows app store only apps? So no open source apps, no steam games, no adult apps or games, no non MS office, no firefox, and so on.
Given the whole bios thing, we'll probably need to jailbreak our Dell machines soon enough...
Check your premises.
at least the ps3 took any laptop sata HDD.
But the xbox locked into high cost MS hdd's that can be hacked around but you get banned for hacking?
that the manufacturers right and its my right to not have to buy what is locked. I have a huge issue with being called a criminal, pirate, goat fucker or what ever for wanting to modify hardware to make it perform better or do something it wasn't intended to like say the bomb trigger to blow up the White House or Pentagon.
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
What if windows locked you into IE and windows app store only apps? So no open source apps, no steam games, no adult apps or games, no non MS office, no firefox, and so on.
I'd be more concerned over the Mac on this front.
GLaDOS for President 2016! "Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure." -- GLaDOS, 2011
In this instance, we are not simply "users." We are owners. We have purchased devices, we have payed for them with our money, either upfront or by signing up for a multi-year contract, after which time the device belongs to the buyer. We are owners, buyers, proprietors, NOT users. We may be users from the point of view of the software licenses that usually come attached to these types of devices, but we should be able to wipe that software and install whatever we please on the OUR devices...
That's rather the whole goal, though, now isn't it... that you don't own your hardware, but lease all of it, with the root level control not in your own hands. It makes life much simpler (and thus profitable) for the producers of said hardware. It also ensures that they can grab whatever data they want, whenever they want, without any control over it by you, the lessee of said device.
Check your premises.
the depressing part is, this was the 5th comment and the first one to actually try to RTA
And it's (at least currently) modded below zero.
You come to Slashdot to read the articles?
You must be new here.
But... what if someone is able to pirate something!? The fact that some artist may or may not have lost potential profit will bring about the apocalypse!
Therefore, paying customers must suffer.
Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
I opened my old xbox SATA hard drive from a RROD'd old model and slipped the 20gb bare hard drive directly into the new xbox slim console and it works great. I have a piece of structural foam holding it in place underneath it, not impeding air flow. That is sort of a hack around. I didn't want to buy the new cased hds, and only needed enough space to install a few games to disk, so it worked for me.
I have rooted and installed custom roms on my HTC Evo 4G on Sprint with no issues. I did it because I hated half of my space taken up with crap like Sprint TV and NASCAR apps, and I wanted a faster cleaner OS. Mission successful.
How do you jailbreak a lightbulb?
That's a good first step, but how about requiring manufacturers to provide all root/administrative access to the hardware they've purchased? It's my fucking gadget.
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
ASKS?!
What ya ought to be doing is making your own phone like they used to
make 2 way radios before all this surface mount crap and making the
whole thing so small you can forget where it even is. If you make it
yourself, then you can repair it yourself, program it yourself. Then
this game can get down to fighting the fcc for the spectrum, and lease
the antenna/repeater/vault infrastructure. Your lease then dictates
the terms in which the antenna/repeater/vault/infrastructure will
provide. Oh wait didn't they just take down a network like this in
Mexico? Who was using it? Drug Cartels? Drug cartels are smarter than
the telco's and electronics manufacturer's. If you do use surface
mount with the whole same scenario above, just know if it's broken,
it's throw away, know if it's built with an exploit, it will live it's
life with an exploit. Make it yourself and the worst that can happen
is it comes out looking like a 1970's walkie talkie without the whip.
You might whine you have a right to have a phone, this is currently
misdirected, kids think a phone is new first amendment because the fcc
threw out it's original mission statement in liew of several new
fascist mission statements. And now when they go in the street they
get arrested for protesting. Why? Cause that's not the first amendment
anymore. Is there a first amendment anymore? Now the establishment
through the FCC's PART of the 1st Amendment thinks your first
amendment is the right to have a low cost mobile phone. After all it's
right in (one of their new) their mission statement now.
"To be an agent of positive change, striving for continuous
improvement in FCC's management and program operations."
Yeah where's the original mission statement now fcc? Now journalists
are not bloggers or vice versa and really the whole damn system going
to crap and your phone is now being searched. The corp's own 99% of
the public spectrum, *uck this is a mess. Getting off topic here
and I admit the way I typed that out needs to be further edited I
don't think I am making the point and it frustrates the holy crap out
of me. Now it's at a point where the FCC's control needs to be the
public not the president. I digress.
You have a right to your phone. But I have a right to "make" my own
phone and have it work on that infrastructure, on my own terms,
without them spying, stealing, dictating, or mucking with my fucking data.
Given it's a radio signal, there are holes in that anyone with a
receiver can receive the emission, but I expect this. I don't expect
it on my land line.
I don't think people fully understand the significance here.
To be an agent of positive change, striving for continuous improvement
in FCC's management and program operations.
OIG staff, products and services are respected and sought after by the
Agency and other customers. (Products?! Customers!? wtf happened to
managing the spectrum in the fucking public interest, it's 99%
OPPOSITE of the original mission statement)
A customer focus which is responsive to the needs of decision makers.
(uh, and the "decision maker" is the president, no wonder this is so
fucked up; I haven't researched it myself, but I bet the true fall of
this country was exactly around the time the FCC mission statement
went awol. After all if that's no longer your mission, then your
mission must be something else. Well, it's no secret, it's FASCIST!
Customers / Products?! )
A positive working environment within the OIG which encourages us to
be innovative and reach our potential through teamwork and open,
candid communication.
(Oh go fuck yourself with a red hot poker.)
Better Mod this UP.
Bluray players/cellphones/etc will now be rented to you.
If you don't have root access it's not really your machine. As computers get ever more personal, from desktop to mobile to (physically) embedded systems, it's critical that every user has the ability to keep their data safe from governments and corporations, crooks and perverts.
And what are you doing, "asking" for something. You don't ask. Because asking means you deliberately hand over decision power and control to the enemy. You decide.
But hey, when you bought into the enemy's view of things, be even accepting their view of it not being legal in the first place, you have already placed yourselves in the losing position in their rigged game.
FAIL
Can they ask you to leave if you're a nigger?
Can they ask you to leave if you're gay? Foreign?
They get rights AND RESPONSIBILITIES in having a public space.
This is why GPL3 is better than the GPL2. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just use the existing copyright law to enforce this instead of waiting for legislature to do so?
It's really too bad that Linus hates the GPL3. He sees it as preventing MFGs from doing things with their hardware -- This is wrong, they can do whatever they like, but they must give us the keys to do what we like too. (Just like GPL2 re: source code -- boot ROM encryption = part of the source, IMHO). The concept of the GPLv3 is really no different than GPLv2 -- Users Need Software Freedom.
Device MFGs & Carriers discovered an exploit in v2.0 series of GPL, and leveraged it.Instead of patching the bug in Linux, Linus ignores it and pretends that's what he meant to do... Like Peewee Herman: "I was sloppy with copyright assignments and now I can't upgrade to v3 even if I wanted too -- Not because I was young and naive and lacked foresight, but because: I meant to do that."
Well, it's Linus's code so he can do what he wants license wise -- Actually, it's minimally his, it's mostly every other contributor's code now, according to Copyright laws. He never required assignment, so no, he CAN'T do whatever he wants license wise. Some would say: "Well, he knew that when he started out." Seriously? No. Honestly? You expect me to believe that a SOFTWARE developer, agreed to have some aspect that could never be upgraded even if exploits were found? Is that what I'm supposed to believe? I'm going to have to call on Occam's Razor for this one. Either Linus was ignorantly foolishly, or willfully so.
That's why it was such a big deal that "at your option, any later version" got left out. I stopped contributing when this was brought to light after Linus stated is opinion on the trivialization issue. I seriously think he realized it couldn't be fixed easily, and instead of working to fix the issue he decided that it was right not to do so.
Now I work on and use the next best thing -- HURD. This kernel may go nowhere, in fact it has some deep flaws but so does Linux... Any progress is better than nothing. You don't want to use out-dated and bug-ridden code, why would you settle for out-dated and bug ridden licenses? I prefer to be able to patch both my software and licenses against exploits. I mean, just look at Apple & BSD. Do we want that for Linux? No? Well, too bad. Welcome to Android.
I've seen what path Linus has chosen, and I don't like it at all. IMHO, the kernel itself is not important, it just needs to marshal my applications (many of which run on BSD/OSX/Linux/HURD & Win -- I support user freedoms). What's important is whether my contributions will serve my interests in the future, or be used against me in an effort to limit my freedoms.
*his opinion on the tivoization issue
Heh, the word's not in the spellcheck dictionary? Hmm, bug-report #2...
other then to protect lucrative package deals and squeeze out every last drop of profit?
What exactly do you mean by "look at Apple & BSD"?
That's right, I hope they fail.
Sorry, but if the manufacture states "X can not be done to this device" and you still purchase the device, than that is your stupid problem!
I would much, much, much prefer to see another company take on these "big bad companies" by producing a "compariable device" and then having us consumers actually support it!
Money talks - if we only buy the products that are inline with our ideology then we'll see the "big bad companies" fall in line ... or die!