No Jailbreaking Allowed!

Nothing would make Apple happier than to stop jailbreak altogether. If they have to use the force of law, they’re perfectly fine with that. We’ve all seen Apple on a legal rampage over the last year, with patent dispute after copyright lawsuit. However, it’s not Apple going after jailbreakers with the force of law behind them. This is an expiring exemption in the Digital Millennium Copyright  Act (DCMA). Back in 2010, it was declared by the copyright office the jailbreaking an iPhone was not illegal. That was a declaration, though, and was never written into the law. It was a temporary exemption granted after the Electronic Frontier Foundation fought for your right to jailbreak. That exemption is set to expire this year, though, which would make jailbreaking a device and adding 3rd party software to it illegal. If you do so, you can face fines and possible jail time. Then you’ll really need a jailbreak!

The EFF is back to continue the fight, however, and they’re asking for your help. The EFF wants to have the exemption extended, hopefully permanently. In addition, the exemption will cover the iPad 2, as well as game consoles like the PlayStation and XBox. You may recall that a hacker by the alias Geo Hot got himself into some trouble last year, when he published instructions on how to mod a PS3. The EFF needs your help, too. You can aid the movement by visiting the Copyright Office Website, and adding your comments to the multitude already posted. The EFF has posted these tips on things you might want to include in your comments:

Here are some questions you might want to address in your comments:

1. Which jailbreaking exemption are you supporting—smartphones/tablets, video game consoles, or both?
2. What’s your background (i.e., are you a developer, hobbyist, academic, independent researcher, user, etc.)?
3. What device do you want to ensure you have the legal authority to jailbreak?
4. Please explain why you want to jailbreak this device. What limitations do you face if you aren’t able to jailbreak it? Is there software you couldn’t run, computing capabilities you wouldn’t have, cool things you couldn’t do, etc.?
5. If you’re a developer, did an online application store or console manufacturer reject your app or game? If so, what reasons did they give?
6. Is there anything else you want to tell the Copyright Office?

You can also visit the EFF’s source article for a little more information on the issue.

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