Apple has filed comments with the Copyright Office as part of the 2009 DMCA triennial rulemaking that Jailbreaking an iPhone constitutes copyright infringement, and if Apple gets their way, will be punishable by death. Alright the last part is made up, but seeing as how this is the first formal public statement by Apple about this, and considering their legal stance on other "unautorized" uses of their products, it sure seems like they could be out for blood.
If you already don't know, the iPhone is the best-selling mobile phone in the United States, and has been designed with restrictions that are meant to prevent owners from running third-party applications that have not been purchased, or downloaded, from the iTunes App Store. It's estimated that there are a few hundred thousand jailbroken iPhones, and a number of instructional videos and programs on the Internet that help get the job done. A majority of the jailbreaking has been done to obtain apps that the iTunes Store doesn't provide like turn-by-turn directions and video recording.
Apple is claiming that jailbroken iPhones depend on modified versions of Apple's bootloader and operating system software, but the court has recognized for a long while that copying software and revers engineering is fair use when done for the purpose of creating independent software. A key part of the law that Apple has seemed to have forgotten about.
EFF.org put it best by comparing fear tactics used by the automotive industry and Apple's public stand on jailbreaking ones iPhone.
"...We'd never accept this corporate paternalism as a justification for welding every car hood shut and imposing legal liability on car buffs tinkering in their garages. After all, the culture of tinkering (or hacking, if you prefer) is an important part of our innovation economy."
Sure there are a lot of iPhone owners who are pleased with what Apple provides for them in the App Store, but if it wasn't for the software pioneers that are out in the world jailbreaking their iPhones, we wouldn't that have ability to turn our iPhones in to some spy tech, or play creepy voyeur with your pets.
benet
November 10, 2009 at 11:52pm
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sgws2003
February 19, 2009 at 12:21pm
Apple has only themselves to blame for jailbreaking of phones. The root problem is that Apple does not listen to their customers and disregards and controls how people use their phone.
Since the iPhone came out features like MMS, copy/paste, tethering, background application multitasking, flash support are all features people requested and Apple ignored. Most of these features are available on jailbroken phones. Apple promised the so called push notification in September 2008 and guess what its almost March 2009.
When I paid for the phone, I own it and nobody will tell me what to do or not to do with my phone. I could care less about Apple warranty and this is why I never pay for Apple Care.
Apple should realize that other competitors are coming out this year with phones that will truly compete with the iPhone and offer all of the above features (Google phone, Palm Pre, New Windows Mobile etc). Once real competition is out there and Apple market share drops, they will regret this business strategy.
Personally I will be switching this year from iPhone to another phone that offers more open platform, true multitasking, and other features described above. 15000 apps on the App Store don't impress me as only 10-20 of them are any good. Even the good apps like Pandora and Slacker are hampered as they can't run in the background (only jailbroken phones they can).
gwill
February 16, 2009 at 5:46pm
i know people hack their iphones for good reason (i've done it to every single cell I've ever owned including the iphone), i'm cool with that! but to act as if this is some great injustice on apple's part or that the ability to break the phone has no legal drawbacks is disingenuous . . . those other smartphones up for purchase lock users out, too . . . try buying a phone jacked up by Verizon if you really want your freedom placed in a gulag . . .
ES0090
February 16, 2009 at 1:36pm
I use Cydia which has no stolen apps. Apple left out alot of things when creating the iPhone like Cut & Paste, Video Camera, and Themes. Jailbreaking allows you to get those options that are created by fellow iPhoners and not Stolen! After I spent $300 why should'nt I be allowed to change the wallpaper or icons?
nintendotoad
February 15, 2009 at 11:58pm
To jailbreak is not to steal apps, although that is something that it does, although some people use it for that. It is about installing apps that do "stuff" that apple didn't want us to do, i.e. setting wallpaper (WinterBoard). I agree some people use this to steal apps (installous) but there is a percentage who delete apps they don't like or pay for the ones that they do like.
gwill
February 15, 2009 at 9:21pm
jailbreaking iphones is about stealing apps . . . while the phone service problem bothers me (all cell phones should be unlocked so that customers have choice and prices are subjected to competition) most people i know steal apps for their iphone b/c they are thieves who are unwilling to pay . . . most people who make the p2p argument with music/ movies are doing the same . . . while I have no halo or could really care less about the whole "who has the right" debate, I do hate people who defend a practice that ultimately legitimizes stealing by acting as if they have the touch of the Almighty on their side . . . p.s. customers who steal are not LOYAL and the switch to competitor solutions WILL in FACT spur innovation!
Imagine Engine
February 15, 2009 at 11:55am
Apple hasn't the legal right to restrict what software their customers install on their purchased iPhones. They could void the warranty for those that jailbreak but shouldn't since installing third party apps on the iphone is no different then installing third party software on the Mac. Why isn't Apple telling me what I can install on my Macs? A suggestion for Apple is to stop censoring apps which consumers want and actually listen to their customers needs instead of trying to please every wireless carrier. That way we wouldn't need to jailbreak to have tethering, copy/paste, themes, turn by turn voice navigation, background push, video recording, etc. I fail to understand Apple's reasoning for allowing several hundred useless apps such as fart apps but not allow apps into the App Store which enhance the iPhone functionality. Apps such as Snapture, Cycorder, iPhone Video Recorder, iPhoneModem, etc have been blocked since the iPhone launched. I recall Apple promising at their keynote to have background push by September 2008. This feature has been available for several months on jailbroken iPhones but Apple still hasn't been able to provide this and it's now February 2009. Apple start innovating and stop censoring apps otherwise you'll find your loyal customers losing their faith in what you promised to offer with the iPhone thus causing increased churn as customers switch to competitor solutions.
