There has been a good amount of talk lately about the legality of the jailbreak process. Originally, this stemmed from the loose (but somehow prevalent) connection between JBing and pirating software. Apple has now issued a statement labeling the jailbreak process as a violation of the DMCA.

This is, in a word, absurd, and I feel the need to clear the air with a couple of known facts.

1) Courts have long upheld the notion that software modification as a means of reverse engineering to foster interoperability with related systems is not a valid offense or violation of the DMCA.

2) Neither PwnageTool, nor any preceding tool, nor any related tool distributes any copyrighted material.

3) Under fair use laws, you are allowed to modify and/or copy most copyrighted material SO LONG AS you do not distribute it.

Apple can bluff all they want, but facts are facts, and even Jobs doesn't have the power to completely rewrite copyright law. If Apple had a case, they would have brought this up months/years ago. It is obvious that they are running out of tools to keep the community out, so they're just grasping for straws.

However, one other point should be noted.

4) Piracy, less commonly but more accurately known as theft of software, is illegal. Under no warped interpretation of copyright law, morality, or common sense are you allowed to take that which is not rightfully yours, so don't do it.

*the preceding post should not be interpreted as professional legal advice.

i think they ran out of ways to block jailbreaking on the software part lol

Apple madness

as illegal as installing linux in a computer that came with winblows preloaded.... my phone my way... apple plz get that!.

Sounds like "no we play the scare card" as they ran out of ideas how to block jailbreak (or ran out of $$ to try so who knows) as their trusted boot chain design is.. pardon ... shit.

Anybody who disagrees with what the forum seniors will just get booed out.
So Ill just say that I dont agree.
And that we are breaking the law. With using our iphones out of contract.

The dev team has contributed millions of dollars of profit for apple. In sales. more than half the people would not have purchased an iphone if they didnt know they could jail break it.

You break the law by acting against a contract, intresting...
I didn't knew contracts are already law these days.

lol their trusted boot chain?? its still intact on the 3g.... kinda

Originally Posted by wnjunkie

we are breaking the law. With using our iphones out of contract.

So are you saying that AT&T's subscription contracts have a clause that says "you receive an iPhone on the condition that you only use it with this subscription"? I'm not in the US so I don't know, but I would be interested to read that. Could you post the text?

If you believe that editing the iPhone OS as being illegal and against the Terms & Conditions agreement, then yes it is.

I mean we've been in the grey area until Apple declared it as such. Until a few days ago, jailbreaking was just considered "not in-warranty" situation.

So, in short. Yes and No. Just depends how you look at it.

N41