Apple officially states that jailbreaking phones is illegal (according to them)
For the first time ever, Apple has said publicly that jailbreaking iPhones is illegal and they don’t want it happening. In comments filed with the US copyright office, Apple says that jailbreaking is copyright infringement and a violation of the DMCA.
Every three years, the US Copyright Office has a rulemaking session for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, where exemption requests can be filed. For the 2009 session, the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed an exemption request for jailbreaking iPhones for the purposes of interoperability with independent software—or apps not in the App Store.
Apple filed these comments in opposition (Link: http://www.copyright.gov/1201/2008/responses/apple-inc-31.pdf), which is the first time it’s explicitly said that jailbreaking itself is illegal. It gets pretty nasty trashtalking the EFF in parts, and plaining how great the iPhone is that it doesn’t need to be “opened”.
But the bottom line, according to Apple, is that the act of jailbreaking itself constitutes copyright infringement because it “involves infringing uses of the bootloader and OS, the copyrighted works that are protected by the TPMs being circumvented.”
The EFF’s counter-argument is that “courts have long recognized that copying software while reverse engineering is a fair use when done for purposes of fostering interoperability with independently created software.” Apple disagrees, of course.
Look for this to continue in the weeks ahead, and we’ll update you as to who comes out on top.
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Well, duh, of course it’s illegal. You buy an iPhone with the service agreement provided by AT&T, so you shouldn’t be able to change your service provider with that phone. Of course, what does this mean for that one teenager who spent his entire summer jailbreaking one?
Duh? Are you a lawyer? Wake up, this is highly debated and BOTH sides have pretty solid arguments. So get off your all knowing high horse with your “duh, well ofcourse” bs, pretending you have a broader view of this subject than those involved.
Umm…Brian…Get a clue.
Terminology first:
Jailbreaking is allowing apps to run without Apple giving it’s blessing. In reality it just gives access to the computer OS. Nothing more than you have with Windows, Linux, and MacOSX.
Unlocking is circumventing the devices baseband in order to be allowed to use other carriers.
Contract/Service Agreement is a signed legally binding agreement which in AT&T’s case binds the user to using the AT&T network for two years. It also contains provisions on both parts for terminating the agreement.
Now…as for your duh…like it’s a no brainer…If I have paid for my phone and I am relieved of the contract because I either took the exit clause (payed to leave) or stayed for my two year commitment….then I own the phone free and clear. It is mine in whole. If I want to take it to another network provider I ought to be able to…but I can’t…because Apple and AT&T have conspired to prevent me from doing so in the phones software and/or hardware.
There is nothing right, fair, or legal about this.
Imagine this. I head into the hardware store and I want to buy hammer 2.0 to put up company X picture frames. Man, it’s awesome…but two years later…I find I need to hang some company Y picture frames…however…hammer 2.0 is incompatible with company Y picture frames because the hammer people have decided I shouldn’t be able to do that. It’s just a hammer. It’s perfectly capable of hammering in any nail…but I can’t use my hammer…even though it’s bought and paid for.
Why should I sit down and shut up about not being able to use my handheld computer ANY way I want once it’s paid for.
Even the music industry doesn’t tell me I have to play their music only on headphones. Nope…money hungry grubby music industry is ok with me playing the music through speakers, headphones, even a low power fm transmitter to a car stereo!
I mean the outrage of it! We should not tolerate it. We should not accept it. We should yell, scream, and throw a huge fit to everyone that can hear us so that the companies and industries don’t continue down this path.
You BRIAN are a lemming. Being led down a path that leads to corporate control of every aspect of our lives.
No I will not ever accept this injustice sitting down. Which is precisely why I will tell Apple to stick it where the sun don’t shine and enjoy my jailbroken iPhone until I complete my contract with AT&T and dump them for the only phone OS worthy of any attention at all….Android.
I FULLY intended to upgrade in march to the 3GS….but not anymore. I will not be their whipping boy (while paying $150/month for service) any longer. No thank you.
I also won’t go to Verizon or Sprint or any carrier that sells a limited Internet on their mobile computing platform. If they block functionality then they lose and with me I will take everyone I know…and everyone they know…and everyone they know…got it?