I saw a thread about this on TiPb as well. Am I the only one who thought it was already legal? I really don't know much of anything about jaibreaking since I have never done it, but I was always under the impression that it was just against Apple policy and would void the warranty. Anyone know if it is really illegal.
Most likely they are referring to making an exception to the EULA (End User License Agreement) where Apple probably states you can't modify the firmware in certain ways.
In reality you should be able to change the device software as you bought it and it's up to you what you want on it. I suspect the government wants to enforce warranties for products where a hardware fault is detected and has nothing to do with what the person did to the software.
I saw a thread about this on TiPb as well. Am I the only one who thought it was already legal? I really don't know much of anything about jaibreaking since I have never done it, but I was always under the impression that it was just against Apple policy and would void the warranty. Anyone know if it is really illegal.
I just thought it was Apple who was trying to make it illegal and
now it is being said it is legal.
By making this legal will this force Apple to still cover a unlocked (jailbreak) iPhone under warranty?
CrackVegas - I was always under the impression that it was legal too...
Apple can still void your warranty if they want though.
The Copyright Office's decision means that jailbreakers will not face legal sanctions, but phone makers are still free to fight back technologically against the practice. Apple typically voids the warranty on iPhones that owners have hacked.
A step in the right direction, makes switching carriers easier since some support non-carrier phones (as long as ESN works for it). Unlocked phones on the market sell for more than carrier specific phones so I guess it's a fair trade off. Also unlocked phones will likely void warranty.
Just recently there was an announcement of unlocked iPhones going up for sale in Canada, coincident?