If you jailbreak your iPhone to add third-party software, you can do so with the comfort of knowing you aren't violating copyright laws, after a federal ruling came down on Monday.
The U.S. Librarian of Congress ruled on Monday that consumers who circumvent digital protections on smartphones to install unapproved applications—a practice often colloquially known as “jailbreaking”—for noninfringing reasons should be exempted from prosecution under the anti-circumvention section of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
The proposed exemption on jailbreaking was first put forth in 2008 by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which argued that users should be allowed to jailbreak their phones to install, for personal use, legally acquired third-party software. Apple, for its part, argued against the exemption in an extensive filing contending that an exemption for jailbreaking would lead to more widespread piracy and additional support costs for the company.
More: http://www.macworld.com/article/152935/
The U.S. Librarian of Congress ruled on Monday that consumers who circumvent digital protections on smartphones to install unapproved applications—a practice often colloquially known as “jailbreaking”—for noninfringing reasons should be exempted from prosecution under the anti-circumvention section of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
The proposed exemption on jailbreaking was first put forth in 2008 by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which argued that users should be allowed to jailbreak their phones to install, for personal use, legally acquired third-party software. Apple, for its part, argued against the exemption in an extensive filing contending that an exemption for jailbreaking would lead to more widespread piracy and additional support costs for the company.
More: http://www.macworld.com/article/152935/