Apple Says Jailbreaking Is Illegal
February 13, 2009
Every three years, exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act can be proposed to the Copyright Office and if accepted will be valid for three years. In December 2008, the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed an exemption request to the DMCA that would make it officially legal to jailbreak phones. Apple has responded with their own 27 page argument on why it should be considered illegal to do so.
Each side has some interesting points. The EFF feels that it's your device, you paid for it and you should be allowed to do what you please with it.
They also use argue that:
"courts have long recognized that copying software while reverse engineering is a fair use when done for the purposes of fostering interoperability with independently created software."The EFF's argument isn't restricted to just the iPhone but it is a prominent figure in the proposal. They suggest that the process of jailbreaking does no damage to Apple, even going so far as to say it is good for consumers because it allows competition to Apple's App Store. Apple doesn't agree at all, saying that jailbreaking requires altering of the iPhone's OS and bootloader which themselves are copyright protected. Apple alleges that this could lead to reliability and security issues. Apple also feels that allowing the iPhone to be jailbroken is condoning piracy and will lead to an increase in pirated software. The document is 27 pages long so this is merely touching the surface. It's unlikely that Apple will attempt to go after people who have decided to jailbreak their iPhones, that would consume too much time and power for a losing cause. Apple is basically trying to slow down the practice of jailbreaking. They aren't so naive to think they are going to completely stop the entire jailbreak community.