Jailbreaking your iPhone could become a crime

Is jailbreaking your iPhone a crime? Right now it isn’t, but that could soon change. In yet another example of legislators not quite knowing how to adapt law to the digital realm, jailbreaking has gained only a temporary legal status. Its fate will once again be determined in 2012.

Some manufacturers (including Apple) have claimed that jailbreaking violates a section of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). In 2010, the US Copyright Office said that it isn’t a crime, and granted it an exemption. Unfortunately, that exemption didn’t last long. Unless it’s renewed, it’s set to expire later this year. If that happens, there could potentially be strict penalties for using something like the Absinthe tool to jailbreak your iPhone 4S.

It should come as no surprise that the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) adamantly opposes making jailbreaking a crime. Wisely, they aren’t limiting their voice to defensive moves. The EFF also wants the exemption to be expanded to tablets and video game systems.

We’re pretty sure that George Hotz (aka Geohot) is with the EFF on this one. Sony famouslydragged him through courts after he provided a public jailbreak for the PS3. They eventually settled, but only after he racked up considerable legal fees and agreed to an injunction (which meant he had to remove his tools from the web and not hack it again).

Software freedom is something that has gone hand-in-hand with desktop and laptop PCs since they entered the market. But when mobile devices and gaming systems entered the digital realm, manufacturers seized the opportunity to establish a new norm: “we decide what can and can’t be installed on this.”

In Sony’s case, this stance is completely motivated by concern about piracy. With Apple, though, closing the platform can be traced back to the company’s core philosophy. It’s probably as much of an attempt to uphold a certain level of quality (from Apple’s perspective) as it is an attempt to control the device’s commerce. That alone isn’t a problem; in fact it’s a huge part of what makes Apple’s devices so appealing to millions of users.

But why should it be a crime to circumvent the closed platform? Of course we know why manufacturers want jailbreaking to be illegal. Many users jailbreak so that they can pirate content, but many don’t. Many users like the tweaks and customization, while others simply stand behind the principle that they paid for their devices, so they can do with them as they please.

Jailbreaking itself has no direct association with piracy; it simply returns the device to a “do as you wish” state. You know, the same state in which you’ll find every Windows and Mac computer that has ever been sold.

2012 has already seen several hot button internet freedom issues making headlines, includingSOPA/PIPA, the Feds’ Megaupload takedown, and Hawaii’s ludicrous web tracking proposal.

If you want to add your voice to the group of citizens who want jailbreaking to remain legal, you cansign this petition, and read more tips from the EFF below.

EFF