Library of Congress smacks down Apple over Jailbreaking

wbarnhill

wbarnhill

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http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...big-in-drm-ruling-jailbreaks-are-fair-use.ars

The conclusion is sure to irritate Steve Jobs: "On balance, the Register concludes that when one jailbreaks a smartphone in order to make the operating system on that phone interoperable with an independently created application that has not been approved by the maker of the smartphone or the maker of its operating system, the modifications that are made purely for the purpose of such interoperability are fair uses."
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Doesn't change much, but at least the people who are jailbreaking iPhones have a thumbs up from the LoC as far as copyright is concerned.
 
wbarnhill said:
Doesn't change much, but at least the people who are jailbreaking iPhones have a thumbs up from the LoC as far as copyright is concerned.
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Yup. It's not like Apple was going after people for jailbreaking, and the ruling does not change Apple's ability to mess up your phone with a software update, so this ruling is really pretty meaningless - Nothing is going to change.

I don't particularly care anyway - I jailbroke my iPhone once. Never again. It was cool when I did it as I gained an additional capability (tethering) that was otherwise unavailable at the time. Then the tethering quit working and I couldn't fix it, so I went back to a "clean" phone - Holy crap, I couldn't believe how well it worked after I went back to an "in-jail" phone! And now I have tethering without jailbreaking anyway (3.0.1, so it's still free).
 
Actually, Apple lobbied to make jail breaking illegal, or at least considered it illegal and lobbied against the exemption.

http://www.copyright.gov/1201/2008/responses/apple-inc-31.pdf

Apple is opposed to the proposed Class #1 exemption because it will destroy the technological protection of Apple’s key copyrighted computer programs in the iPhone™ device itself and of copyrighted content owned by Apple that plays on the iPhone, resulting in copyright infringement, potential damage to the device and other potential harmful physical effects, adverse effects on the functioning of the device, and breach of contract.
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Apple considered the act of jailbreaking, as copyright infringement. In Apple's view, to create a modified bootloader, one has created a derivative work.

Current jailbreak techniques now in widespread use utilize unauthorized modifications to the copyrighted bootloader and OS, resulting in infringement of the copyrights in those programs. For example, the current most popular jailbreaking software for the iPhone, PwnageTool (cited by EFF in its submission), causes a modified bootloader and OS to be installed in the iPhone, resulting in infringement of Apple’s reproduction and derivative works rights.

...

Jailbreaking therefore involves infringing uses of the bootloader and OS, the copyrighted works that are protected by the TPMs being circumvented. Unauthorized derivative versions of the bootloader and OS have been created. Copies of those infringing works have been stored on web sites, and infringing reproductions of those works are created each time they are downloaded through Pwnage Tool and loaded onto the iPhone.
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If no copyright exemption was granted, all Apple had to do was chase people away with DMCA notices. Now they have to actually sue for breach of contract, I think.

--Carlos V.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Yup. It's not like Apple was going after people for jailbreaking, and the ruling does not change Apple's ability to mess up your phone with a software update, so this ruling is really pretty meaningless - Nothing is going to change.
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True, but now Apple no longer has a leg to stand on when they tout "Jailbreaking is illegal." as they have been doing recently.

--Carlos V.
 
Unbeliever said:
Actually, Apple lobbied to make jail breaking illegal, or at least considered it illegal and lobbied against the exemption.
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Well, they'd rather not have to waste resources playing the cat-and-mouse game, nor support jailbroken phones.

If no copyright exemption was granted, all Apple had to do was chase people away with DMCA notices. Now they have to actually sue for breach of contract, I think.
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Were they actually sending DMCA notices, though? Highly doubt it.
 
rpadula said:
Sure they do. That leg is now "it voids your warranty."
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When has violating a warranty been illegal?

And under Magnusson-Moss, even the "voids your warranty" is suspect. If the jailbreak bricks your phone, Apple has got a point. If you jailbreak, and later find out your screen is defective, Federal law says that as long as the jailbreak itself didn't cause the screen to die, Apple's warranty is still valid. Of course, you'll have to un-jailbreak it before you submit it for repair, probably, but you still have warranty protection.

--Carlos V.
 
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