Siri0us Voice Dictation Hack Removed From Cydia Over Licensing Issues

[RedTomato]

Is this the first time something got pulled from Cydia because of a commercial / legal / licensing issue? It's interesting to see Cydia evolve its own processes and rules to respond to legal challenges.

Disclaimer: I haven't used Cydia for about a year. I used it extensively with my old 2G and 3G iphones.

What I saw was that Cydia (and um, the other major repo that Cydia took over, forgotten the name) was reasonably careful to not include pirated software or sexual stuff. However, there were other repos stuffed full of pirated stuff.

I didn't use the pirate repos as iTunes apps (and Cydia apps) are so ridiculously cheap and convenient, that paying is unquestionably better, especially as so much of the money goes direct to the devs. I remember when mobile software used to cost over £20 ($30) for a crappy notepad app.

 

[SavMBP15]

Is this the first time something got pulled from Cydia because of a commercial / legal / licensing issue? It's interesting to see Cydia evolve its own processes and rules to respond to legal challenges.

I don't think you have your facts straight. Cydia has never been doing something illegal. It is legal to jailbreak your iphone and install third party software. It might void your warranty with Apple or violate an EULA, but as far as the law in the United States, it is legal to do so. Cydia does not allow pirated software. Never has, never will. So with the removal of this software is in keeping in line with their policies from the beginning.

The fact that there are software repositories out there that do host pirated software is not Cydia's doing.

This was affirmed on July 26, 2010. See this link http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/node/6513

Note that before that jailbreaking was neither legal or illegal.

 

[mkrishnan]

I don't think you have your facts straight.

I'm aware that jailbreaking is legal (and have asserted the same here many, many times). The legal challenge is to Siri0us -- not to jailbreaking.

I also did not know that Cydia has never accepted illegal software, but I am fairly certain at least some has been offered through Cydia in the past (albeit before they functioned as an "app store" where one could purchase things). I think it's a good thing if Cydia and the jailbreak community have an infrastructure to respond to legal challenges, because this increases its legitimacy and in turn its staying power. They have to balance what they view as an appropriate legal challenge, but I think if they provide a reasonably unified front in this regard, it's good for the whole jailbreak community.

 

[the8thark]

Freedom of doing whatever you want with YOUR phone, one more reason to go Android!! Makes me think about the original Apple Macintosh ad, 1984 video

Just don't expect to be paid for it. Freedom of choice with android also equals freedom of choice of no one wanting to pay for android programs.

 

[kingtj]

Hah!

As someone stuck using Android because it's a work issued phone ... I can assure you Android phones offer no real "freedom" to do more than you can do with a given iPhone.

That's the big fallacy they want you to believe. "Hey, it runs Linux and Linux means FREEDOM!"

Sorry, but like all cellphones, they're forced to work within the constraints of what the commercial carriers allow, for starters. (See how "free" you are to tether your phone without paying for a tethering plan and use it extensively to give a net connection to the other computers in your house. Oops ... what happened to my service?)

And sure, you might be free to use any of a number of custom firmware packages on Android, but my experience trying it so far is that the best of them feel like you're a beta tester. Expect everything from 4G that only works intermittently to the phone spontaneously rebooting throughout the day, to serious battery life issues. The open source stuff developed by a few people reverse engineering things just isn't anywhere near as solid or reliable as what the manufacturer INTENDS for you to use on the product.

Freedom of doing whatever you want with YOUR phone, one more reason to go Android!! Makes me think about the original Apple Macintosh ad, 1984 video

 

[Digitalclips]

Good.

 

[polak9pete]

still works perfect on my iphone

 

[dBeats]

Cydia is not in the business of pirating software, it is in the business of providing non-Apple approved software. It's this kind of thinking that gives jailbreaking a bad name.

Please. Cydia should get over itself. It's a pirate app store in itself. The concept of pirated but safe has failed so many times. Play with the pirates, expect that you can get the sword. There's no safe pirate ship.

 

[bilibug]

Please. Cydia should get over itself. It's a pirate app store in itself. ...

Your are clearly misinformed. Lockinfo, for example, is one of the best apps ever created, and has nothing to do with pirated software. For me, some of the utilities available on Cydia are critical in my efficient use of an IOS device. Apple has "borrowed" from many of them (notification center... cough, cough....), and yet fails to deliver something feature rich enough to make the original Cydia apps obsolete.

 

[Kaibelf]

Bah. Disappointment prevails as I was probably going to JailBreak my iPhone 4 and grab that when I had a spare afternoon. I do hope it makes it back onto Cydia. I refuse to buy a whole new phone for a feature that will work perfectly well on my previous generation one.

Thanks for mooching. Steal cable too?

 

[johnhw]

Oh well. It was fun when it lasted.

 

[lilcosco08]

Thanks for mooching. Steal cable too?

Mooching off of what? A feature that Apple specifically omitted from older devices(which are obviously capable to run Siri) in order to make the 4S look like more of an upgrade?

Lrn2logic

 

[APlotdevice]

Bah. Disappointment prevails as I was probably going to JailBreak my iPhone 4 and grab that when I had a spare afternoon. I do hope it makes it back onto Cydia. I refuse to buy a whole new phone for a feature that will work perfectly well on my previous generation one.

Don't be that disappointed. This hack didn't really give older devices Siri. It's just Nuance dictation. No AI for looking things up or setting reminders, etc.