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Is it illegal for you to sell Jailbreak services or iphone/ipod touch?

S

sako94

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 10, 2008
157
0
hey guys im wondering is it illegal to sell services to jailbreak peoples iphones and ipods?

i always see posts and ads on craigslist and got me wondering ;]

technically ur selling the service too jailbreak it since jailbreaking is something thats free and u cant charge them for it

so everything legal right?

including unlock?
 
Jailbreaking is free, but they're trying to scam people, and for some they succeed.

It's not illegal, but it depends on who's foolish enough to fall for it.

I was thinking about starting my own "Remove iPhone SIM card" Service but, I dont know how that will live up to be.
 
Well, murder and robbery are illegal. I would hardly think that a jury would say that jailbreaking an iPhone would fall under the same category.
 
ctt1wbw said:
Well, murder and robbery are illegal. I would hardly think that a jury would say that jailbreaking an iPhone would fall under the same category.
Click to expand...

No but they will deny the warranty, so regardless of what people say there is a penalty associated with jailbreaking.
 
If Apple considers Psystar's construction of a Mac clone a violation of their OS license agreement and worth suing over then I'm sure they hold the same opinion of jailbreaking. It's one thing for someone to do it themselves but it's quite another for someone to benefit financially from it just like making a Hackintosh at home versus buying a Psystar pre-made model.
 
Jailbreaking isn't illegal. Why would it be illegal for you to charge someone to do it? What are you gonna do though, iPhone Jailbreaking Delivery? Get a van with your company's decal and drive to the homes of people hiring you to jailbreak?

Actually that sounds awesome.
 
Not a scam if you charge for you service.
It is free but not everyone could go thru it succesfully.


Krafty said:
Jailbreaking is free, but they're trying to scam people, and for some they succeed.

It's not illegal, but it depends on who's foolish enough to fall for it.

I was thinking about starting my own "Remove iPhone SIM card" Service but, I dont know how that will live up to be.
Click to expand...
 
Jailbreaking is like installing a fake iPhone OS instead of keeping the original iPhone OS.
 
I'm no lawyer, but the owner of the phone agreed to Apple's TOS, so they would be held accountable for whatever you did to their phone. As far as the jailbreaking process, what software are you using? If you use software from the Dev-Team, I don't think they'd appreciate you using their product commercially, seeing as they won't even accept donations.

So basically, if there is an end user license agreement on whatever software you use to jailbreak that states personal use only, and you use it commercially, you could be sued. Of course, this would be civil court, not criminal.
 
Jailbreaking is a violation of Apple's intellectual property rights. That means yes, it is technically illegal.

Apple and AT&T are likely entitled to damages in a civil court.

They do not pursue this because it would be expensive and not yield much in the way of preventing others from jailbreaking (see RIAA and music piracy).

That being said, if someone turned this into an honest to goodness business plan, it might be more attractive to go after that person.

That is, as I understand it, the legal state of play. None of this constitutes legal advice, and I am not liable for your reliance on this information.
 
The proper terms "against cooperate policy" and "violations of terms of the contract" these are civil matters the day the cops can arrest you and jail you for breaking a contract with a private company is the day flaming purple monkeys start flying out my arse. Companies throw around the term "illegal" a lot to scare the hell out of stupid people--don't expect the Apple cops to come busting down your door, or just because the geek squad cars from best buy have a similar paint job to cop cars doesn't mean they'll pull you over and force you to watch star trek in a holding cell for 12 hours.
 
Tallest Skil said:
Not for the first month of service, you don't. :D
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Money changes hands items are exchanged reciept is given describing physical item therefore the hardware is owned by the individual and in that individuals posession. Services are another matter completely you can cancel a contract and pay penalties on the services.
 
People have sold air guitars before and that's not even a service, that's just selling and empty box. I would think it's legal to sell a jailbreaking service, but it would just be basically a scam as people can easily do it for free if they take a few means to learn how.
 
I always love to read these typs of questions and the responses they provoke. While true according to the EULA and TOS, you can't jailbreak your phone. However, it's akin to the older days of installing a non-GM radio in your GM car. It can be related to the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.

Plus the Library of Congress has said you can circumvent software locks to unlock your phone's OS.
 
Jailbreaking is not protected by current DMCA exemptions --- that's why EFF is asking for it right now.

Selling simlock unlocking service is also not protected by current DMCA exemptions. The current DMCA excemptions for unlocking cell phones --- basically allows you to write your own software to unlock your own cell phone. Nothing more and nothing less.

PS: This is exactly like distributing the LAME mp3 encoder --- if you distribute the source code, then you are ok. But you can't distribute LAME mp3 encoder binaries.
 
Charging for your time and effort is not illegal. Charging for free software is different. But think of it like charging for computer repair services. Or like cutting someones grass. U get paid for your time. And no jailbreaking is not illegal no matter what anyone says.


Krafty said:
Well, maybe my iPhone SIM card ejection service may prevail after all.
Click to expand...
 
Is it illegal to sell my jailbroken iPhone 2G on eBay?

What burns me is that I paid full price for that sucker ($600), and a couple years later I can't use it unless I have AT&T service (unless I jailbreak it). This is the kind of things that prompts laws to be passed.... :mad:
 
I know several retail phone sellers in the local malls that sell their JB/UL services (T-Mobile SIM cards) for iPhones starting at about $25 on up. These services remain a good portion of their profit; and they've been in business since at least 2007 during the v1 iPhone release.....:eek::eek::eek::eek:
 
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