The United States Copyright Office published a revision of its rules on the jailbreaking of smartphones, gaming consoles, and tablets this week and the results are not encouraging for those who like to tinker with their toys.
As part of their re-examination the law under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the U.S. Copyright office ruled that smartphone jailbreaking still remains legal.
CNET reports that the Copyright Office did not overturn its decision the jailbreaking of tablets and gaming consoles, however, which remain illegal practices.
The purpose for the office's upholding of this ban on jailbreaking is to curtail software piracy. As such, smartphones were given a pass as jailbreaking the device allows consumers to freely switch carriers.
Jailbreak while you have the chanceEven though smartphones were given a pass under the U.S. Copyright Office's new rules, the freedom is a fleeting one. The exemption to jailbreak a smartphone with the intent to switch carriers will only last until January 2013.
After this point, a smartphone may only be jailbroken with the express permission of the network carrier.
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doppleganger | 11:21 - 28 October 2012
reason is, apple can track phones and their contents, not tablets. pirates, you should worry about the future...
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brightside45 | 05:04 - 27 October 2012
Sighs....U make a product and sell it to the consumer and at the end of the day u still want to controlled how the consumer use your product...if I sell someone an orange I can't tell the person "you can only cut the fruit with a knife...peeling with your hands is illegal" .....shinanigans!!!
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divisionbell7 | 21:56 - 26 October 2012
Ahhh copywrite law. Essentially useless and only good for complicating things and taking away freedom.
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