Government Approves “Jailbreaking of Mobile Devices
A Black Web 2.0 Tech Report
2010-07-29
By Terrence Gaines
The Federal government has recently put
out a list of exemptions from a 1998 law that “prohibits the circumvention of
technical measures that control access to copyrighted works.” According to the
Associated Press, “Jailbreaking” was specifically listed among those exemptions
that the government will make legal.
If you are not familiar with
Jailbreaking, it’s the process of hacking devices to access system files, add
additional coding, an install applications restricted by the operating system’s
developer. This term specifically applies to Apple iPhones due to Apple’s
restrictive practices in regards to its operating system design. In other
words, they don’t want you messing with their stuff.
If you want to download an app on your
iPhone, you can ONLY download apps approved and released through Apple’s App
Store. Additionally, The ONLY way Developers can get apps into the hands of
consumers was via Apple. If Apple said no, then it was back to the drawing
board for iPhone app devs. Through special software, you can jailbreak your
phone and install apps from other developers regardless of if they are approved
by Apple or not. But be careful, because if you have an issue with a phone that
has been modified via a jailbreak, the phone manufacturer has the ability to
void your warranty, and deny service of your phone.
Another key exemption is the allowance of
“unlocking” of cellphones to in order to switch to other wireless carriers. Now
this applies to all cellphones, but before you immediately unlock you iPhone in
an attempt to switch to Verizon Wireless, cellphones are made to only work on
certain radio frequencies and not all wireless carriers work on all frequencies
(doh!). So before you consider unlocking your phone, do some research and find
out which carriers work on the same frequency as your phone.
Now
jailbreaking and unlocking smartphones is nothing new, and I am pretty sure the
practices would’ve continued even if the government didn’t allow it, but now at
least you can’t be prosecuted for doing it.
