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Is jail breaking illegal?
- Thread starter Frazer19
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http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/07/26/us.says.jailbreaks.hacks.ok.when.purpose.is.legal/
The US Library of Congress ruled that it is indeed legal.
The US Library of Congress ruled that it is indeed legal.
Yes, Apple Thought Police will burst into your home, arrest you, and summary execute you on the spot. Don't do it!
No.
Apple claimed it was illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, but the U.S. government ruled it was legal.
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/07/26/u-s-government-to-explicitly-allow-iphone-jailbreaking/
Apple claimed it was illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, but the U.S. government ruled it was legal.
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/07/26/u-s-government-to-explicitly-allow-iphone-jailbreaking/
As far as im aware in the USofA its not illegal - but i have heard rumours in the good old blighty there trying to get it made illegal 
same as the R4 dscards that nintendo have now won - basically its illegal to sell import export but not illegal to own one...
think apple are after a patent for some kind of bricking of iphones jbroken or stolen...
same as the R4 dscards that nintendo have now won - basically its illegal to sell import export but not illegal to own one...think apple are after a patent for some kind of bricking of iphones jbroken or stolen...
Correction: it was illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (except for the sole purpose of unlocking) until the Librarian of Congress created an exception for jailbreaking.
Note, however, this doesn't mean Apple is required to leave an open exploit (and most certainly not one of the level as the PDF one) for people to jailbreak with.
As I recall, Nintendo was able to show/convince that the primary/majority use of those card was pirating. That is why they got made illegal.As far as im aware in the USofA its not illegal - but i have heard rumours in the good old blighty there trying to get it made illegal
think apple are after a patent for some kind of bricking of iphones jbroken or stolen...
And as for that patent - while it could be adopted to detect jailbreaks, I guess (although after the DMCA neutering that would be a BAD idea, methinks), it was presented as a method of bricking phones that are being accessed in an unauthorized/stolen manner based on various clues the phone could pick up.
Viva la Betamax!
Because the title of the thread was "Is jailbreaking illegal?"
And the answer is "No" - so not illegal means it is indeed legal. Although the bit you quoted is ever so slightly wrong as the thelatinist points out.
No offense, but I would think that is a bad thread to reference. It was before (way before) the LoC decision (almost 2 years) as it could of also been ruled that even if the acquiring of an unlock is legal, that the method used should of been to go after either Apple or AT&T (or both).
If it was legal then, the LoC would not have needed to make an exception - just a clarification.
EDIT : Besides - that's the DMCA's whole shtick. It doesn't deny you any rights (fair use, unlocks) it just makes the process of being able to exercise them illegal (recording shows to time-shift, jailbreaking for unlocks).
In Europe and the UK, it would appear to be legal to break DRM schemes so long as there is no intention to break copyright, and that the sole purpose is to achieve interoperability with other programs. (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31991L0250:EN:HTML)
Jailbreaking would almost certainly fall under this legislation, however it is open to interpretation. There has yet to be a prosecution for jailbreaking, and it will only be known for sure whether or not it is deemed illegal if this were to occur.
So, in short, it's probably legal to jailbreak in the EU & UK.
Jailbreaking would almost certainly fall under this legislation, however it is open to interpretation. There has yet to be a prosecution for jailbreaking, and it will only be known for sure whether or not it is deemed illegal if this were to occur.
So, in short, it's probably legal to jailbreak in the EU & UK.
It have always been legal, the fact that it was a gray area and Corporate wanted to push it to the other side is a different history, that's exactly why i referenced such a OLD thread. The "exception" was made to included the term "rooting" or "Jailbraking" as part of it (in order to make the gray ara more white)
No, that is a complete misunderstanding of the law. The DMCA does not provide exceptions; it makes ANY circumvention of access controls illegal except in cases where a specific exception has been made by the Librarian of Congress. From the creation of the DMCA in 1998 it has been illegal to circumvent access controls such as the chroot jail on an iPhone. In 2006 an exception was created which made it legal to jailbreak only for the sole purpose of unlocking. Jailbreaking for any other purpose (such as installing third-party software) remained illegal. It was only the most recent round of rulemaking which created an exception for jailbreaking done for the purpose of intalling third party apps.
Whether you like it or not, for the past three years the vast majority of jailbreakers in the USA (including me) have been doing so in violation of the DMCA because we have done so not for the sole purpose of unlocking our phones but for the additional purpose of installing third-party apps.
Rather than beat the legal/illegal issue to death, since it is well established and known, don't forget that it is a violation of Apple's user agreement. So while jailbreaking your iPhone does not violate the law, Apple does have the right to void your warranty if you do jailbreak. And we all know that all you have to do is restore the iPhone to Apple firmware and they'll never know if the iPhone was ever jailbroken. What is questionable is Apple's ability to brick jailbroken iPhones remotely. For those unfamiliar, Apple filed a patent some time back that provides a means to detect jailbroken iPhones and to deactivate them remotely. Whether they have the technology in place or just filed for the patent, I don't know. I would imagine with Find My iPhone, the technology does actually exist. And with jailbreaking being legal, if Apple were ever to deactivate a jailbroken iPhone remotely, would that open Apple up to significant liability? If they could query the iPhone and determine that App Store apps were installed for which there was no record in their database (cracked apps), cold they then legally deactivate the iPhone? Even if they did that for the cracked apps reason, they better make sure they didn't hit a legitimate iPhone by a computer glitch. That would certainly be bad press. Sorry, it's late and I'm rambling and I'm going to hit submit anyway
Why would Apple want to pizz off jailbreakers? The voiding of the warranty is a given. Il accept it, even though I know there's a 99.9% chance Apple would have no idea I jailbroke my phone if I had a warranty issue.
However, the remote deactivation of a JB phone would be a bad move for Apple for several reasons:
- Even with the one-two punch of Cydia and Installous, I have no doubt that hardcore users like us spend way more in the App Store than the average iPhone user.
- People like us are the most likely to dump Apple and move to Android. Piss us off and we're gone - never to return.
- Today's Cydia apps are tomorrow's selling points for the next iOS as they roll our ideas into their standard distribution. Stop jailbreaking and you stop innovation.
However, the remote deactivation of a JB phone would be a bad move for Apple for several reasons:
- Even with the one-two punch of Cydia and Installous, I have no doubt that hardcore users like us spend way more in the App Store than the average iPhone user.
- People like us are the most likely to dump Apple and move to Android. Piss us off and we're gone - never to return.
- Today's Cydia apps are tomorrow's selling points for the next iOS as they roll our ideas into their standard distribution. Stop jailbreaking and you stop innovation.
I agree with that.
There have been many ideas and additions first on the JB scene and then perfected and have been added as a native iOS feature by Apple.
Forgive me if I sound like an oldhat here, but what's the difference between jailbreaking your iDevice and installing Linux on your machine that shipped with Windows?
I guess I just don't understand how you can buy a computer, and if you think the iPhone / iPad is anything less than a computer then you're mistaken, and then be told that using it in the way you choose is illegal. The whole idea is absurd.
I guess I just don't understand how you can buy a computer, and if you think the iPhone / iPad is anything less than a computer then you're mistaken, and then be told that using it in the way you choose is illegal. The whole idea is absurd.
When it became "officially" legal, it sorta took some off the pleasure out of JBing.
Instead of me pissing on Steves bowl of Wheaties in my small but collective way, now the gov's doing it while I just stand here with my iPhone in my hand...
Instead of me pissing on Steves bowl of Wheaties in my small but collective way, now the gov's doing it while I just stand here with my iPhone in my hand...