iPad Jailbreaking is Illegal?

[Bob Maxey]

Been doing a little essential research and I have arrived at a conclusion or two. And a question. No flameers need apply; a little information will be greatly recieved.

The recent DCMA exception we all know and love specifically refers to wireless phones. The iPad was released after the EFF petitioned the U.S. Government to allow jailbreaking under the DMCA. The iPad-jailbreak exemption will not be considered until late 2011 when the Office begins accepting petitions for the next round of reviews.

So can anypone point to some further reading material?

Bob

 

[NumbLock]

Totally legal:

"Under the DMCA of 2010, jailbreaking is legal in the United States, although Apple has announced that the practice "can violate the warranty."[1] It is also legal in many other countries including those of the EU. However, the jailbreaking process does not include any modification to the hardware, so it can be quickly and easily reversed simply by restoring the operating system through iTunes. Cydia creator Jay Freeman estimates that more than 10% of all iPhones are jailbroken.[2]"

Source

 

[Bob Maxey]

Totally legal:

"Under the DMCA of 2010, jailbreaking is legal in the United States, although Apple has announced that the practice "can violate the warranty."[1] It is also legal in many other countries including those of the EU. However, the jailbreaking process does not include any modification to the hardware, so it can be quickly and easily reversed simply by restoring the operating system through iTunes. Cydia creator Jay Freeman estimates that more than 10% of all iPhones are jailbroken.[2]"

Source

It is not a problem for me. The rules--whatever they may be--mean nothing to me, for I be a scurrilous and lawless man set in his ways. I won't bother you with the reasons I JB, you likely know them and share many of the same reasons as I do. I will continue my lawless nature.

Smiley

But . . .

As I have said, I have been furiously reading, and much of what I come across in this specific case--iPads and JBs--tell me the ruling does not specifically apply to iPads. It DOES apply to iPhones, this I know.

But not specifically to iPads.

I feel this will be addressed in the next few years or a SCOTUS case will decide it, or Apple will simply accept the simple fact:

Apple has bee Pwned. Come get me, Apple. Warning, I tend to bite. Smiley.

But, for iPads being specifically addressed in the ruling you quote in part above, the situation is still in the air.

Bob

 

[f4780y]

Bob, attached is a link to the specific amendment that was made in the USA. As you will see it is nothing to do with Apple specifically. It applies to any device you own.

http://www.copyright.gov/fedreg/2006/71fr68472.pdf

The summary is "...the Register of Copyrights recommends that the Librarian of Congress publish the six classes of copyrighted works designated above, so that the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that effectively control access to copyrighted works shall not apply to persons who engage in noninfringing uses of those particular classes of works."

In other words, you are free to modify a device you own provided you are not infringing copyright. And that is what jailbreaking does. However, because piracy is infringing copyright, that remains illegal.

 

[Bob Maxey]

Bob, attached is a link to the specific amendment that was made in the USA. As you will see it is nothing to do with Apple specifically. It applies to any device you own.

http://www.copyright.gov/fedreg/2006/71fr68472.pdf

The summary is "...the Register of Copyrights recommends that the Librarian of Congress publish the six classes of copyrighted works designated above, so that the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that effectively control access to copyrighted works shall not apply to persons who engage in noninfringing uses of those particular classes of works."

In other words, you are free to modify a device you own provided you are not infringing copyright. And that is what jailbreaking does. However, because piracy is infringing copyright, that remains illegal.

Appreciated, but I saw that.

And Apple contends the same thing, by the way. And others cite other laws that seem to indicate that the issue of IP violations is not so clear cut. It is very complicated and I think we will need to wait until October so the long convoluted pros and cons are sorted out.

I'll still do it and recommend it, but some the reason I am researching something I have already decided to ignore are for certain people that are naturally interested in facts and hard data.

This is interesting to consider:

http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/dmca_2009/RM-2008-8.pdf

Keep the data flowing, gang.

Bob

 

[graywolf]

Been doing a little essential research and I have arrived at a conclusion or two. And a question. No flameers need apply; a little information will be greatly recieved.

The recent DCMA exception we all know and love specifically refers to wireless phones. The iPad was released after the EFF petitioned the U.S. Government to allow jailbreaking under the DMCA. The iPad-jailbreak exemption will not be considered until late 2011 when the Office begins accepting petitions for the next round of reviews.

So can anypone point to some further reading material?

Bob

Ooh... Good point. But like f4780y said, it applies to any device you have.

 

[Kabona]

This why geohot is being taken to court by sony. It is legal to jailbreak smartphones, sony is trying sue geohot because legislation only states that it is legal for smartphones. Sony is using the excuse thay the ps3 is not a smartphone. Geohot is fightimg it with the excuse "whats the difference, they are both enclosed electronics, which you own". Im assuming the same fight is going to be for the ipad bedause apple will probably use the "its not a smartphone" also.

At the end of the day....court will probably rule in our favour for this one also.

(watched an interview with geohot on tv the other day)

 

[brrip]

This why geohot is being taken to court by sony. It is legal to jailbreak smartphones, sony is trying sue geohot because legislation only states that it is legal for smartphones. Sony is using the excuse thay the ps3 is not a smartphone. Geohot is fightimg it with the excuse "whats the difference, they are both enclosed electronics, which you own". Im assuming the same fight is going to be for the ipad bedause apple will probably use the "its not a smartphone" also.

At the end of the day....court will probably rule in our favour for this one also.

(watched an interview with geohot on tv the other day)

this case has already been settled. it ended (supposedly) with no money changing hands, just that geohot is to stay the hell away from the ps3.

 

[OUTL4W]

Yeah..And because Sony won the case is why psn is down. Some other hackers took offense and launched an all out blitz on psn...and now going on 7days that psn is down will cost them millions if not billions. They are rewriting the entire system.

 

[brrip]

Yeah..And because Sony won the case is why psn is down. Some other hackers took offense and launched an all out blitz on psn...and now going on 7days that psn is down will cost them millions if not billions. They are rewriting the entire system.

I think the geohot case was just a trigger point. this frustration among hackers has been going on since sony took away linux from the PS3. it still baffles me how they got away with that one. I can't believe Sony is playing the cat and mouse games.

Everything is available hacked today. Does that mean that the bulk of users use it? Probably not. Sure, an un-hacked system theoretically attracts devs, but today's devs code for things like homebrew and jailbreak apps too, so it's driving them away at the same time.

 

[SweetPoison]

Yeah..And because Sony won the case is why psn is down. Some other hackers took offense and launched an all out blitz on psn...and now going on 7days that psn is down will cost them millions if not billions. They are rewriting the entire system.

You are so knowledgeable and it is very much appreciated when you spread it all around.

 

[Bob Maxey]

This why geohot is being taken to court by sony. It is legal to jailbreak smartphones, sony is trying sue geohot because legislation only states that it is legal for smartphones. Sony is using the excuse thay the ps3 is not a smartphone. Geohot is fightimg it with the excuse "whats the difference, they are both enclosed electronics, which you own". Im assuming the same fight is going to be for the ipad bedause apple will probably use the "its not a smartphone" also.

At the end of the day....court will probably rule in our favour for this one also.

(watched an interview with geohot on tv the other day)

Exactly my point, hence the post. People must understand that a ruling like this might not include things not specifically mentioned in the documents.

So I wonder e-aloud about the DMCA ruling and if it applies to iPads. Apparently not because iPads are, according to the DMCA and others, not specifically covered by the rule change.

And again, that will not prevent me from breaking my iDevices.

But my research is not for my benefit; there is cash involved. And this opinion expressed by some on this list that all such devices can be legally broken might matter very little. What does matter is the wording and its interpretation by the judge and lawyers. Most likely, there are plenty of cases that are lost because someone assumes this or that.

Apparently, Apple contends that there is some sort of copying of their IP when the JB interacts with the Boot Loader. Bob is not an expert, so corrections are welcome.

Bob

 

[Bob Maxey]

This why geohot is being taken to court by sony. It is legal to jailbreak smartphones, sony is trying sue geohot because legislation only states that it is legal for smartphones. Sony is using the excuse thay the ps3 is not a smartphone. Geohot is fightimg it with the excuse "whats the difference, they are both enclosed electronics, which you own". Im assuming the same fight is going to be for the ipad bedause apple will probably use the "its not a smartphone" also.

At the end of the day....court will probably rule in our favour for this one also.

(watched an interview with geohot on tv the other day)

this case has already been settled. it ended (supposedly) with no money changing hands, just that geohot is to stay the hell away from the ps3.

I have not been keeping up with the Geohot case. I do wish him well.

If Geohot is to stay away from PS3 devices, then apparently nothing has been setteled. It is still likely "illegal" in Sony's eyes.

Can anyone provide further information?

Bob

 

[f4780y]

Apparently, Apple contends that there is some sort of copying of their IP when the JB interacts with the Boot Loader
Bob

Where does Apple contend this?

 

[Bob Maxey]

Apparently, Apple contends that there is some sort of copying of their IP when the JB interacts with the Boot Loader
Bob

Where does Apple contend this?

Here is part of what Apple contends:

"In comments submitted to the Copyright Office, Apple contends that jailbreaking is a clear violation of United States copyright laws. In part, Apple said: "Current jailbreak techniques now in widespread use [utilizes] unauthorized modification to the copyrighted bootloader and OS, resulting in infringement of the copyright in those programs."


"A bootloader is a small program stored in the devices nonvolatile memory that loads the device's operating system. Jailbreaking violates the law, Apple contends, because the process relies on pirated copies of the bootloader and operating system."


"Also according to Apple, "Infringing reproductions of those works are created each time they are downloaded through Pwnage Tool and loaded onto the iPhone."


Apple also argued, "In addition, the jailbroken OS enabled pirated copies of Apple copyrighted content and other third-party content such as games and applications to play on the iPhone, resulting in further infringing uses of copyrighted works and diminished incentive to create those works in the first place."

Not sure about that last item. Seems to me that every smartphone, desktop, or laptop can do exactly the same thing: download IP from all over the web. Seems like a red herring to me.


Ask Mr. Google to fetch "Docket No. RM 20088." Copies are all over the place. The document title is: "Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies."

Bob
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