iPhone jailbreaking now legal. Apple hits back with warranty threat

Fans of open mobile platforms rejoice: you now have a permit to go jailbreaking iPhones. The provider of said permit? The US government itself.

The key sticking point for would-be jailbreakers has always been a 1998 federal law that prohibits users from circumventing phone companies’ security measures. It's a copyright thing.

This helped Apple to push its closed-shop stance, which is intended to maximise the iPhone user experience and cut down on security threats. And porn.

The trouble for Apple is that the Library of Congress meets every three years to discuss and implement potential exemptions to these rules. The iPhone – and indeed any mobile platform – has been included in the current round of deliberations.

The government exemption includes:

“Computer programs that enable wireless telephone handsets to execute software applications, where circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of enabling interoperability of such applications, when they have been lawfully obtained, with computer programs on the telephone handset.”

Apple has been quick to respond. Speaking to Cult of Mac, an Apple representative said that “the vast majority of customers do not jailbreak their iPhones as this can violate the warranty and can cause the iPhone to become unstable and not work reliably.”

Which serves to point out that, while you may now be able to jailbreak your iPhone without attracting the disgust and reproach of civilised society, you’ll continue to pay the price if things go wrong.