Apple: iPhone jailbreaking violates our copyright
Apple recently told the U.S. Copyright Office that it believes iPhone jailbreaking is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and infringes on its copyright, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Jailbreaking an iPhone with software like Installer.app or Cydia constitutes copyright infringement, according to Apple.
(Credit: CNET Networks)The EFF is trying to get the Copyright Office to grant a DMCA exemption on behalf of iPhone owners who have chosen to jailbreak their iPhones, or bypass the restriction Apple places on standard iPhones that only allows the installation of applications from approved sources: the App Store. In its response to the Copyright Office (click here for PDF), Apple disagreed that such an exemption was proper because the very act of jailbreaking the iPhone results in copyright infringement.
Current jailbreak techniques now in widespread use utilize unauthorized modifications to the copyrighted bootloader and OS, resulting in the infringement of the copyrights in those programs. For example, the current most popular jailbreaking software for the iPhone, PwnageTool (cited by the EFF in its submission) causes a modified bootloader and OS to be installed in the iPhone, resulting in the infringement of Apple's reproduction and derivative works rights.
The EFF's argument is that jailbreaking your iPhone is protected under fair-use doctrines, and that the Copyright Office should grant an exemption because "the culture of tinkering (or hacking, if you prefer) is an important part of our innovation economy." But Apple's response is that few users of jailbroken iPhones actually jailbroke it themselves; instead, they downloaded software created by other parties to make that happen.
Don't expect Apple to come knocking on your door if you're using a jailbroken iPhone; they used a similar argument in the Psystar case and no one has confiscated my Open Computer yet. But Apple could be trying to build momentum behind the recognition of jailbreaking that does more harm than good; already this week, iPhone developers have been discussing writing software that only works on jailed iPhones as a way of preventing application bootlegging.
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom. 
Why but why does apple sell crippled equipment? All the credit to clever people around making the world a freer place. We have enough of the government spooking and cheating on us, without the complicit of corporates trying to tell us what to do.
I would love to see the EFF win this, and get a DMCA exemption granted. But I can't say I'm that surprised that Apple wouldn't simply remain silent and go along with that. Their legal team is surely doing their best to fill management with fear about all the possible problems it could cause for them down the road, etc. etc. The fact that jailbroken phones are allowing people to install commercial apps without paying for them first isn't helping matters either (Before all that nonsense started, jailbreakers had a little stronger argument that they were just a bunch of people trying to use freely developed software to make their iPhones more versatile.)
That said, I don't feel that Apple's contract is at all fair, and their reliance on the DMCA for enforcement, which I feel is a bad law anyway and should be repealed, is flat-out anti-consumer.
Likewise for the millions of illegal immigrants in this country!! That is, they shouldn't be be allowed to become citizens, just because of a culture sneaking or stealing their way into our society/
By the way, if you own a television, land-line phone, cell phone, vacuum cleaner, washer, dryer, garage door opener, car, snow machine, motorcycle, chainsaw, or home climate control system of any sort, you own the results of tinkering--some of it by non-Americans. You're welcome.
...I don't see how pirating "copyrighted" and jailbreaking are the same thing. One is obtaining content that hasn't been paid for. The other is enabling a phone to work on the terms of the owner, not the seller. Please explain how the two are alike.
IF DMCA allows unlocking the gsm phones then Apple and ATT are bound by law to unlock my iPhone if I choose to move away from ATT by paying them the $175 fee. Am I right? This really does not seem so as ATT and Apple would never unlock the phone for you.
I have been a great Apple supporter and evangelist for the last decade and half. It is time I gave up my love for the company and its products as it seems now that the feeling of mutual understanding is waning. Apple I will be sorry for the decision I take for I will not miss what you have to provide since I found another 'ho' around the block called Ubuntu. She is sexier, open young smoother and above all cheaper.
If i like sprint or T-Moble, and i want to pay like 400$ for the phone(without contract) what's the problem.
In fact i suspect ATT is the one whos pissed here, apple probably doesn't really care. But im sure ATT paid a good deal of money to get that exclusive deal with the iphone, but since apple doesn't want to break a contract and allow the jailbreaking to take place they have to sue.
Reverse engineering (section 1201(f)). This exception permits
circumvention, and the development of technological means for such
circumvention, by a person who has lawfully obtained a right to use a
copy of a computer program for the sole purpose of identifying and
analyzing elements of the program necessary to achieve interoperability
with other programs, to the extent that such acts are permitted under
copyright law.
Effectively, I many buy and iPhone (lawfully) then reverse engineer the program in there to find out how I can make my applications work on it for interoperability. Apple cannot stop me from doing so. Since I gather this knowledge, I am free to spread the knowledge to the world a paper too. I did not find any info in the DMCA that says I cannot spread knowledge that I have gathered at my own expense.
Apple you are trying to control the minds of the people like the HAL 2000. Remember you will be unsuccessful in what you plan to do eventually.
I take your comment as the final word. Believe me the sudden disappearance of the comments created a doubtful atmosphere. There is no right / left wing thing as far as tech goes. I believe in technology being the lead point of human freedom. When I say the fourth state is what you might leave is not what I really would want you to do. Apple has been a favorite corporation for me for it stood out differently. I strongly still believe that I am a round peg in the square hole. Being a mainframe programmer switched to Mac back in the days, I have stood my ground to see the company do an about turn just because it has the gem in its hands now.
You do a great service to the freedom of press by acknowledging the stand of Mac as a platform in a world dominated by Windows.
Please do not take my sarcasm as an attack on the press. It is my frustration of seeing my "love for all things Apple" take the route away from us "believers of freedom".
Thanks anyways.
I will jailbreak my iPod if I want to. I will hackintosh my computer with my legally purchased copy of OS X if I want to. But really, with so much floss software out there, why wouldn't I? Ubuntu rocks, Linux Mint rocks out loud, Fedora 10 is awesome, SUSE is very nice, Mandriva is cool. Who needs Micorsoft Office when there is OpenOffice? Who needs iTunes when there is SonngBird? Who needs IE or Safari as long as we have FireFox?
I love my MacBook and I use my iPod a lot. But my eee pc with Linux Mint my Zen are becoming my usual fair as I travel a lot.
http://www.abiznews.com
And most importantly , Palm will let you "side-load" apps from vendors other than Palm !
No Apple=No walled-garden. No lock-in to iSpoons for your phone to work.
matter of fact , everything works on my lowly 3 year old Moto Q , even without a data plan. Epocrates , Syncs with Outlook , media player etc. Yep...Apple sux for many such reasons.
At the GSMA Mobile World Congress, Palm has confirmed to join the Open Screen Project - which will bring Adobe Flash Player on the new Palm webOS platform. Led by Adobe, the Open Screen Project includes industry leaders working together to provide a consistent runtime environment and user experience across mobile phones, desktops, and other consumer electronics devices. The initiative addresses the challenges of web browsing on a broad range of devices, and removes the barriers to publishing content and applications seamlessly across screens.
The ringer switch broke off of my iPhone. I flipped it to the off position, and it came right off in my hand. Made a Genius Bar appointment, showed them what happened, they just said "oh, that's not good". 5 minutes later I walked away with a new iPhone, no questions asked.
Now, imagine how that would have gone down in an ATT store. I really don't want to think about anything that unpleasant.
When I first got my iPhone (at the ATT Store) there was a problem with it. I walked out the door, sat in my car for a few minutes, and couldn't make a phone call. Nobody in the store could get it to work. One by one, they called every employee of the store over. "Have you ever seen it do this? Nope. Hey, have YOU hever seen it do this?".... This went on until everybody agreed that they had no clue. It was a two hour ordeal.
After all this I figured while they were at it, I'd upgrade from 8GB to 16. Not so fast! They made me pay the restocking fee.
True a**holes. They must send them to some class for this.
- by s.fink May 22, 2009 1:21 AM PDT
- apple becomes like a microsoft, cruel, conservative, inflexible, imperium corporation, greedy for money, market and power, closed to the young and innovative spirits..... shame on you apple!!! long live saurik!
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