Jailbreaking Now Legal In The U.S.

[Orion4874]

The U.S. Copyright Office introduced a few new exemptions to the DMCA(Digital Millenium Copyright Act). http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/07/feds-ok-iphone-jailbreaking/


Shit..... Mali can you fix my S in the thread title? Grammatical errors like that set my OCD off!

Edit:
Aaaah....much better, thank you!

 

[Mr B]

Cool quote:

no basis for copyright law to assist Apple in protecting its restrictive business model

This should really be a handy tool for getting console mod-chips legal, as a tool for running home-brew software. But since when was laws, jurisdiction, and sensible thinking ever joined.
So that may just stay a "should".
B!

 

[Jourdy288]

I just roared when I saw this. That's... That's among the most awesome news I've seen all season.

 

[Nova]

I just roared when I saw this. That's... That's among the most awesome news I've seen all season.

Why? It changes nothing. Name one person who has been prosecuted for Jailbreakiing their iPhone?

 

[quote]

I just roared when I saw this. That's... That's among the most awesome news I've seen all season.

I'm not seeing the biggie on this if I'm honest. Everyone assumed it legal anyway, and as long as you don't pirate apps Apple didn't give much of a shit.

Edit: Ninja.

 

[Exophase]

It's good that Apple doesn't have any legal precedence now for if they did decide to crack down on sites for apps on jailbroken iPhones, like Cydia. Apple might not care now, but you never know when they could have changed their mind, especially if they decided they don't like VoIP apps or other software that competes with core functionality of the phone. Such a move would have had a pretty negative impact, including for those who make money off of sites like that.

 

[quote]

It's good that Apple doesn't have any legal precedence now for if they did decide to crack down on sites for apps on jailbroken iPhones, like Cydia. Apple might not care now, but you never know when they could have changed their mind, especially if they decided they don't like VoIP apps or other software that competes with core functionality of the phone. Such a move would have had a pretty negative impact, including for those who make money off of sites like that.

I'd have thought that they care far more about piracy than unsigned code in general, and if they had the time and resources to shut down sites then they'd go for the nasty ones. They've shut down a few piracy sites in the past and I hope they continue to do so. Even without this recent development I doubt Apple would have had good grounds on which to shut down jailbreak sites.
But yes, at least this law protects Cydia and the 'good side' of iPhone jailbreaking.

 

[Exophase]

If Apple, the richest company in the world, had the time and resources to shut down sites? Surely you jest. I agree, Apple cares more about piracy, and rightfully so, but if they deem something to be a bigger threat to their bottom line than the cost of removing it then they're at least liable to consider it. I do think that Apple cares about the PR backlash this would create though, probably more than some companies, especially since they are such a high profit margin company.. losing any number of unit sales hurts them more than it would most others.

 

[quote]

Yes, probably not the best words to choose. If they could do it though, why havn't they already? No-one would slate them for taking down a piracy site, surely?

 

[Exophase]

If they haven't done something by now that probably does increase the likelihood that they won't, but you never know. The situation can change for these sites, suddenly they can be causing a much bigger shift in activity - if all of a sudden the number of jailbroken iPhones increased by 50% Apple might change their tune. Or maybe the authority chain could shift in Apple causing a new different push in policy. You never know what can happen.

 

[quote]

They have sent letters of warning to some piracy sites (some shut down because of it), so they are obviously trying to take them down. I know nothing on the matter, but is there any such thing as a site being unreachable?

 

[Jourdy288]

I just roared when I saw this. That's... That's among the most awesome news I've seen all season.

Why? It changes nothing. Name one person who has been prosecuted for Jailbreakiing their iPhone?

Nobody. But it means that the legality of stuff like modchips and homebrew (R4 Cards!) will soon be pretty indisputable.

 

[WizardStan]

Nobody. But it means that the legality of stuff like modchips and homebrew (R4 Cards!) will soon be pretty indisputable.

The US moves towards "it's your hardware, do what you want" while the UK starts moving in the opposite direction.

 

[quote]

Oh bloody hell.

 

[Jourdy288]

Nobody. But it means that the legality of stuff like modchips and homebrew (R4 Cards!) will soon be pretty indisputable.

The US moves towards "it's your hardware, do what you want" while the UK starts moving in the opposite direction.

Argh, was just about to comment on that...
http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2010/07/29/uk_court_rules_r4_carts_for_ds_illegal
Brilliant. What next, Australia? NVM.
http://www.qj.net/qjnet/nintendo-ds/nintendo-wins-r4-case-in-australia.html

 

[Orion4874]

Nobody. But it means that the legality of stuff like modchips and homebrew (R4 Cards!) will soon be pretty indisputable.

The US moves towards "it's your hardware, do what you want" while the UK starts moving in the opposite direction.

Argh, was just about to comment on that...
http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2010/07/29/uk_court_rules_r4_carts_for_ds_illegal
Brilliant. What next, Australia? NVM.
http://www.qj.net/qjnet/nintendo-ds/nintendo-wins-r4-case-in-australia.html

They only mention R4's though, what about all the other flash carts? There's plenty of others to choose from. R4 has sucked for a while now anyway, buy a Cyclods Evo.