iPhone jailbreaking is all about choice, says EFF
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has gained important allies in its dispute with Apple over whether jailbreaking the iPhone should be considered illegal or an allowable exemption under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, aka DMCA. Mozilla and its CEO, John Lily, have joined the fight to decriminalize iPhone jailbreaking and open the platform to third-party developers and applications.
“This is not us criticizing Apple. But, it’s the principle of the thing. Choice is good for users, and choice shouldn’t be criminalized. The Internet is too important for all of us for that,” Lilly told ComputerWorld.
Although Apple does allow limited, WebKit-based choice vis-a-vis web browsing on the iPhone, Cupertino doesn’t permit the use of third party browsers, such Mozilla’s Fennec or Opera’s mini.
Moreover, Saurik, developer of Cydia (an application that allows users to install software from any source on an iPhone), and VOIP software maker Skype have joined Mozilla in petitioning the US Copyright Office, the government body that overseas the DMCA, to permit jailbreaking.
“Copyright law should not interfere with a user using his or her phone to run Skype and enjoy the benefits of low- or no-cost long-distance and international calling,” according to Skype company officials.
Although this sounds like a clear case—users should be allowed to do as they please; competitors to compete and innovate—there’s more at stake than a few competitors eying untapped markets or freetard loners toiling in basements. Apple’s products “just work” because they are closed to varying degrees.
That is, Macs don’t suffer the myriad endless conflicts, failures and incompatibilities of Windows PCs because there are limits on what developers, hardware and software, can do. The same can be said of the iTunes, iPod and iPhone.
Also, Apple has “slowly” allowed more and more freedom for iPhone developers and, by extension, users as time has passed. So, it’s not a given that the iPhone will always be locked down and inaccessible.
Still, who honestly believes jailbreaking the iPhone should be considered criminal? The notion is absurd.
Nevertheless, the idea that every half whit with a compiler should have free and unfettered access to the guts of my devices is just as ridiculous—I pay extra to keep those people excluded and there are millions of others who feel the same way.
How to strike that balance? I doubt the US Copyright Office has much wisdom to offer…
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February 19th, 2009
I unlocked a first gen iPhone when AT&T said that I couldn’t upgrade to a 3G without paying a $200 premium since I was trying to do it “too early” in my contract. My argument was that it shouldn’t matter what phone I use…obviously, they disagreed. So, I bought a used iPhone on eBay, unlocked it, popped in my SIM and off I went.
Apple has to realize that there are many reasons why people are unlocking iPhones. To attempt to say it should be illegal is ludicrous, especially when one is being told you can’t have one without paying a premium price.
February 19th, 2009
yeah, Its my phone I’ll do whatever I want with it