It's now LEGAL to Jailbreak or Root your phone!

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They are the keepers of the DMCA. :)

Just don't look for Apple to make it easy for you to Jailbreak... infact now they will probably make it a lot harder as they dont want people using 3rd party stores or unlocking their AT&T phones and using them on T Mobile.
 
Next question is: will we see commercial software doing the unlocking/rooting/jailbreaking?

With DVDs for example, a lot is allowed (as exceptions to DMCA) but selling DVD rippers is still a no-no.

Diogen.
 
I'm more interested in the last section of that article:

On a more minor note, the language pertaining to unlocking a handset to work on another wireless network has also been expanded from "firmware" in 2006 to "firmware or software" in the 2010 revision. Also, and very exciting for the YouTube set, the section pertaining to cracking a DVD video and excerpting scenes for commentary or criticism has been expanded beyond educational use into documentary and non-commercial applications.

If I'm reading this properly, that means that now we can get back to posting those "Downfall" videos on YouTube!

OT, it appears that all this really means is that Apple can't go after you legally (as if they would waste their time doing so anyway) if you jailbreak it. I don't think this really changes anything, other than Apple now trying to make it harder to jailbreak, although past experiences seem to indicate that they'll eventually fail.
 
I wonder if this is the reason George Hotz retired from the Jailbreaking business. He claimed to have broken iPhone 4, but didn't release it. Maybe Apple gave him a few bucks to go away. His Blackra1n product was quite impressive. Now that it is legal, hopefully someone like George will come around and make it simple again.
 
If George dont do it someone else will. :)

I do think that Apple being Apple will try to make it harder to Jailbreak their phones. They do not want another app store competing with them on their own hardware.
 
azgreg said:
I wonder if this is the reason George Hotz retired from the Jailbreaking business. He claimed to have broken iPhone 4, but didn't release it. Maybe Apple gave him a few bucks to go away. His Blackra1n product was quite impressive. Now that it is legal, hopefully someone like George will come around and make it simple again.
Click to expand...

He quit due to the personal attacks that he has been getting through E-Mails and on his blogs. that is why I wish that Scott and company would be more pro - active against anyone who uses personal attack on this forum.
 
They wanna do something for me they can forbid carriers from denying me service because my phone doesn't have their precious logo on it...

I am sure there are lots of folks that'd love to have a Droid on Sprint on an Evo on Verizon...
 
tomcrown1 said:
that is why I wish that Scott and company would be more pro - active against anyone who uses personal attack on this forum.
Click to expand...
When we see them we take care of them. We dont read every post on the forum. If you see one we miss report the post.

A note on the report post feature... Its sad that the report feature is most often used in our Sports forum because people dont like others talking bad about their favorite team or player. (I kid you not!)
 
An interesting comment from Ars:
The most surprising ruling was on "jailbreaking" one's phone (exemption number two), replacing the company-provided operating system with a hacked version that has fewer limitations. Make no mistake: this was all about Apple. And Apple lost.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation argued that jailbreaking one's iPhone should be allowed, even though it required one to bypass some DRM and then to reuse a small bit of Apple's copyright firmware code. Apple showed up at the hearings to say, in numerous ways, that the idea was terrible, ridiculous, and illegal. In large part, that was because the limit on jailbreaking was needed to preserve Apple's controlled ecosystem, which the company said was of great value to consumers.
Click to expand...

Apple loses big in DRM ruling: jailbreaks are "fair use"

Maybe this will make Apple think twice before ordering the police to bust another door... One can dream, right?

Diogen.
 
diogen said:
Next question is: will we see commercial software doing the unlocking/rooting/jailbreaking?

With DVDs for example, a lot is allowed (as exceptions to DMCA) but selling DVD rippers is still a no-no.

Diogen.
Click to expand...

Same seems true here.

What's more, the DMCA still broadly forbids distributing to the public any "technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof" that's primarily designed to break access controls, so Apple can always go after the Dev Team directly -- and we'd still keep those dreams of opening Joe's Jailbreak Hut on ice for now.
Click to expand...
 
Well, one step at a time, I guess...

Strictly speaking, this can't prevent Apple from suing a jailbreaking team.
They just have to prove it is outside the scope covered by the exemption.
And considering what dogs Apple employs as lawyers, I wouldn't be surprised them trying to prove that black is white...

But the "climate" has changed. And that is definitely a positive...

Also, the upcoming Windows Phone 7 was supposed to use an identical (to iPhone) ecosystem. That means this decision will apply to them, too.

Diogen.
 
I still don't see how this would forbid a carrier, like say Verizon, from still saying your rooted Droid is NOT a breech of their contract.
 
rockymtnhigh said:
I still don't see how this would forbid a carrier, like say Verizon, from still saying your rooted Droid is NOT a breech of their contract.
Click to expand...
It won't forbid.
But if this happens to you and you sue them, you have a better chance to win now than you had yesterday...

Diogen.
 
The only reason I jailbreak at this point is to use MyWi. I've only needed to use the app twice in the 6 months I've had it. I refuse to go from a $30 unlimited to $25 for 2 GB + more for tethering. Not only does Apple need to relax on their walled garden, AT&T needs to be more realistic with their pricing. I'm at $240/month for 2 iPhones and 2 texting phones.

$90 - Service
$30 - Data for 1 phone
$30 - Data for 2nd phone
$30 - Family texting
$10 - Media Net
$10 - Media Net
$10 - Addl phone
$10 - Addl phone
The rest = unfees.
 

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