US Government Declares iPhone Jailbreaking Legal

[Steve the Pocket]

Nevermind iPhones; what effect does this ruling have on making Hackintoshes?

I've never seen that term before, but if it's hacking the Mac OS to run on a non-apple system, that's always been an exemption from the DMCA.

I'll resist the temptation to fire up Here Let Me Google That For You. A Hackintosh is a non-Apple computer set up to run OS X. I don't really understand the details myself, but the process involves somehow spoofing the installer into thinking your computer is a Mac.

And of course Canada is taking the opposite side of this decision, restricting it's citizens to no end.

Are they? That's ironic considering music piracy is, last time I checked, literally legal there.

 

[Icehearted]

Wow... erm... troll?

As for the laws about families watching DVDs and such, that would take more digging around than I feel up to doing. It was an article, and likely either on Cnet or DailyTech. It was talked about roughly a year or so ago, and it also mentioned that it was technically illegal (again, not really enforced) for a person to even hear a song playing from someone's CD passing by in a car unless the person that involuntarily heard the music had also paid for it. It was also around the time the RIAA wanted to abolish all recording devices. You look it up if you don't believe me, I can't to the legwork for everyone.

Your post has otherwise confused me, Steve.

 

[Uber Evil]

Oh, good. Now I have a legal loophole through which I can give the finger to DRM-toting publishers. All I have to do is say that the DRM undermines the security of my machine and I'm in the clear. No more DRM. Iz nice.


Not that the DMCA ever stopped me. If I don't like a given DRM scheme I crack it. My computer, my software, my rules. If I don't like a given DRM scheme it's gone. No exception.

It is not wise to admit to illegal activity here.

 

[Starke]

Nevermind iPhones; what effect does this ruling have on making Hackintoshes?

I've never seen that term before, but if it's hacking the Mac OS to run on a non-apple system, that's always been an exemption from the DMCA.

I'll resist the temptation to fire up Here Let Me Google That For You. A Hackintosh is a non-Apple computer set up to run OS X. I don't really understand the details myself, but the process involves somehow spoofing the installer into thinking your computer is a Mac.

In other words I was correct and Lemmy Google That Fer Ya would have come across as condescending and redundant?

Regardless, yeah, that's always been legal under the DMCA. Apple flipping the fuck out over it and threatening legal action because they like to pick and choose which parts of the DMCA they believe in is also nothing new. The irony here is, this was already legal. Apple flipping out, and claiming it was illegal was always bullshit. All that's changed is now we have a judge calling them out on their idiocy.

Remember guys saying cracking DRM for security is legal: while it may be legal, EULA. EULA. Remember that thing you didn't read that said don't reverse engineer this? EULA.

reverse engineering implies i blueprinted it. its a modification, not reverse engineering.

Remember, most EULAs aren't enforceable because of a lack of an opt out clause.

EDIT: Well, a real opt out clause. The whole package it back up and return it to the seller opt out, isn't really viable, especially given that most retailers won't refund the purchase anyway.

 

[Uber Evil]

It is not wise to admit to illegal activity here.

So why should I let Rockstar decide if I should be able to run another perfectly lawful program, in this case Daemon Tools? Why should I let Ubisoft DEMAND I have a flawless internet or I lose game progress? Why should I let any game publisher control my software on my computer?

Answer is I shouldn't have to. And I don't. If the DRM interferes with any other program, or in some other way deprives me of my right to pay the game I paid a damn good chunk of money for, it's gettin' on outta here. I don't care what the EULA said when I installed it(Now it usually says something like "THE CAKE IS A LIE", "I am Painis Cupcake" or "All your rights are belong to us. You have no chance to survive make your time. Ha ha ha" since I vandalize them all), I don't care what the DMCA says. My computer, my software, my rules.

'Course with this latest development it's all quite legal. It's a security risk to have a port constantly open for Ubi's DRM. It's a security risk having to keep ports open so SecuROM can phone home. It's also a huge risk when I have to go email support and get more licenses because some jerkwad publisher decided it'd be a good idea to try to tell me how many times I can install software I bought.

I've got no pirated software on my machine. I have a ton of cracked software, but no pirated software. So I don't see what the problem is. Devs got paid, I don't have to deal with DRM, we all win.

Ok. But I thought that under the circumstances proposed by this law unless it became a security issue then it was still illegal. Also you just proved my point wrong with your examples, so I guess you are at no fault.

 

[Canid117]

Suck it Steve!

From what I understand Mr. Jobs has quite the temper. I wonder who is going to get yelled at for this.

 

[samsonguy920]

So as far as PC software goes, you can find a legit reason to bypass Ubisoft's draconian DRM, but Ubisoft can also follow up with its own attack by serving up a special patch that would disable the game if the user wanted to update the game for fixes.

The way this sounds, the guvmint is stepping aside and letting the battle of the Publishers/Manufacturers vs the Hackers commence.
Let's get ready to rumblllllle!!!

 

[DTWolfwood]

while the world is cracking down on stuff like this the US is relaxing its grip?!

now im scared. Something seems really wrong here...


on a serious note this is quite the win \o/

 

[Rachet922]

Huzzah!

My government did something useful.

 

[Sacman]

Damn straight it's legal!!!

 

[UberNoodle]

Any tech designed not to protect IP but to protect profits and arbitrary licensing deals, is ASKING to be cracked, and shouldn't even be 'illegal' to deactivate.

I wonder about Australia. WHereas the USA multinationalas have been using the DMCA to shut down DVD region free hardware and software, such features are often openly disucussed at the point of sale in Australia (at least it was like that 7 years ago when I still lived there). My first DVD player came with a faxed sheet of paper outlining the remote hack for the unit. The consumer rights groups in Australia declared all regional locking and restriction systems as 'anti consumer', thus modifications for the purpose of defeating such limitors have been legal.

I sure as hell hope that Australia doesn't back pedal on this progressiveness.

 

[Necrofudge]

Moreover, an Apple representative pointed out that jailbreaking an iPhone voided the warranty, and claimed that it could "severely degrade the experience" by making the phone unreliable and unstable.

Cmon guys, if you jailbreak our phones, you're gonna have a bad time! Trust me! I'm an Apple Rep, how could I be wrong about my own product?