"Jailbreaking" the iPhone isn't Illegal Anymore

[Kerry]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-0...lications.html

Owners of Apple Inc.’s iPhone can unlock the device to use applications not authorized by the company, the U.S. Library of Congress said.

Librarian of Congress James H. Billington added the practice, described in the ruling as “jailbreaking,” to a list of actions that don’t violate copyright protections. The decision affecting iPhones and other smartphones was posted today on the agency’s website.

It will be interesting to see if Apple follows the DirecTV route and makes you lease the iPhone so you can't tamper with it. You can also use the iPhone on networks other than AT&T. In fact, you can now use any phone on any network.

[Lord Helmet]

I haven't upgraded to the iPhone 4 yet specifically because the jailbreak for the new hardware hasn't been released. I have a hard time fathoming paying AT&T for the 'privilege' of tethering...especially when I've already paid for my data. I use MyWi to tether, and you can't use that on an iPhone without jailbreaking.

[MightyHorse]

I haven't upgraded to the iPhone 4 yet specifically because the jailbreak for the new hardware hasn't been released. I have a hard time fathoming paying AT&T for the 'privilege' of tethering...especially when I've already paid for my data. I use MyWi to tether, and you can't use that on an iPhone without jailbreaking.

huh? SnowBreeze for iOS4.1-4.0 for iPhone 4 came out 6 days ago.

[Lord Helmet]

Really??

the jailbreak for iOS4 has been out for quite a while, but the tools for jailbreaking the iPhone 4 haven't been released that I know of. The latest version of Pwnage Tool only jailbreaks the 3g and 3gs with iOS4.

[Eep]

It will be interesting to see if Apple follows the DirecTV route and makes you lease the iPhone so you can't tamper with it.

DirecTV is both the hardware provider and the service provider. They switched to the lease model when they did for two primary reasons, neither of which was related to tampering:
1) the shift from semi-expensive receivers to very expensive receivers as customer demand for HDTV and DVR technology grew
2) competition from Dish Network, who offered a lease plan

Apple's situation here is a more complicated than DirecTV's, because they're making money from two out of the three channels here: off the hardware (sales of the iPhone itself) and third party software (via the App Store), but not the voice/data service part of the equation. The more iPhones are sold, the more Apple benefits from these extra hardware sales (and the resulting App Store sales), so they have some incentive to let people jailbreak it in order to unlock it for use on other carriers as long as they can do it while at least providing lip-service to their exclusivity agreements.

Apple's only real fear with jailbreaking is competition to their App Store. It's no coincidence that every new iteration of the iPhone OS has incorporated the functionality of several of the most popular jailbreak apps: copy/paste, video recording, multitasking, numeric battery, custom wallpapers, categories, MMS, tethering, etc. The sweet spot for Apple is to keep it *possible* to jailbreak, while still keeping it complicated (moving target, have to have some tech knowledge, etc.) and intimidating ("unsupported!" "voids your warranty!" "decreases your battery life!") enough that iPhone users who don't need to unlock won't bother with the jailbreak.

I see it as a similar position to the DRM on tracks sold by the iTunes Music Store. You can read the company's stance on that here:
http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/

You can also use the iPhone on networks other than AT&T. In fact, you can now use any phone on any network.

Well, sort of. You are now officially not legally prohibited from doing so, but that does nothing to make it technically possible. Your carrier choices for using the iPhone in OKC are still exactly what they were before: ATT and T-Mobile (sans 3G), since they're the only two carriers with a compatible network.

[HewenttoJared]

A customer jailbroke one of my demos at work. I think I'll just leave it that way...