Jailbreaking isn’t an arcane science, but it’s surrounded by enough rumors to make deciphering the truth quite a problem. Most of these rumors seem to have stemmed from cautionary tales from the media—and Apple itself. But are we really at risk of turning our nice, shiny iPhones into lifeless bricks? We decided it was high time to sift through some of the rumors to reveal the facts about jailbreaking.
DEBUNKED! The iPolice will not be banging on your door if you jailbreak your phone. It’s perfectly legal. Every three years, the U.S. Librarian of Congress reviews recommendations from the Register of Copyrights and then issues a ruling on exceptions to 1998’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). In July 2010, the Librarian of Congress ruled that people who jailbreak their iPhones to install unapproved applications are exempt from prosecution under the anti-circumvention section of the DMCA.
So, you, the consumer, can jailbreak your iPhone with the warm blessing of the U.S. Government. But Apple is free to technically thwart your jailbreaking efforts by closing any security holes that enable its products to be altered.
DEBUNKED! The DMCA exception detailed above specifically refers to wireless phones. The iPad was released after the Electronic Frontier Foundation petitioned the U.S. Government to allow jailbreaking under the DMCA. Any iPad-jailbreak DMCA exemption would not be considered until late 2011 (at the earliest) when the Office begins accepting petitions for the next round of reviews.
QUESTIONABLE. Apple’s official statement, as widely reported by the media following the DMCA ruling, is that “the vast majority of customers do not jailbreak their iPhones as this can violate the warranty and can cause the iPhone to become unstable and not work reliably.” Note the use of “can”—not “will.”
You can afford to be a little cavalier about this because oftentimes you can easily restore your iPhone to its pre-jailbroken state. Connect your phone to a computer, sync to back up the data, then click Restore in iTunes. Poof—your iPhone is factory-fresh again.
QUESTIONABLE. If jailbreaking broke iPhones, the web would be filled with horror stories about the deaths of our beloved devices. Jay Freeman, who created the Cydia app store for jailbroken iPhones, has told the media that about 10 percent of all iPhone owners download from Cydia—that claim amounts to roughly 10 million devices. You might be the one in 10 million who has been burned, but it’s not likely.
One rumor that’s currently making the rounds is whether Apple has plans to zap jailbroken devices. CNET reported in August 2010 that it had uncovered an Apple patent that could allow Apple to limit functions of jailbroken devices or even kill them remotely. The patent application outlines security systems aimed at “unauthorized users” who engage in “particular activities that may indicate suspicious behavior” such as “hacking, jailbreaking, unlocking, or removal of a SIM card.” The patent indicated that Apple would send warnings to owners via email or text message when such activity is detected. We aren’t lawyers, but the fact that Apple submitted the patent in February 2009—before the DMCA exemption was granted—is probably significant.
DEBUNKED! Apple says this is true, but user reports of system instability or other problems are almost nonexistent online. If your particular iPhone gets cranky after jailbreaking, restore it to its original format following the instructions above.
TRUE. Changes in OS or application code can have unhappy effects on jailbroken iPhones. On February 9, Apple updated its iBooks app from 1.2 to 1.2.1. Owners of jailbroken devices soon discovered that they couldn’t read their purchased e-books. Apple’s solution? Restore your device to its un-jailbroken state. The iPhone Dev Team, a highly motivated and popular group of “iPhone liberators,” discovered a workaround shortly after.
Apple has and almost certainly will continue to strongly discourage jailbreaking. The Dev Team takes this as a personal challenge, so it’s reasonable to hope that any inconveniences will be temporary.
DEBUNKED! You need to unlock your phone to do this, and unlocking is a little riskier than simply jailbreaking—we’ve seen user reports about problems with GPS functionality and connecting with a new carrier’s service. Additionally, unlocking may not be completely reversible because it alters the phone’s baseband (modem firmware). If you want to unlock your phone, be prepared to spend a little time researching the available software, fixes, and potential security issues.
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