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In a move sure to please all super geeks in the United States, the Library of Congress' Copyright Office has made a key exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to let us legally jailbreak our iPhones.
About freakin' time.
Of course, the "anticircumvention" exemption isn't focused only on the iPhone, but in reality, what other smartphone has enough jailbreaking interest in the U.S. to catch much attention? Here's the relevant phone text:
"Computer programs, in the form of firmware or software, that enable used wireless telephone handsets to connect to a wireless telecommunications network, when circumvention is initiated by the owner of the copy of the computer program solely in order to connect to a wireless telecommunications network and access to the network is authorized by the operator of the network."
So what does this mean to iPhone owners in the U.S.? It means that the highly unlikely event that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) would press charges against a customer who jailbroke an iPhone in order to run apps that haven't been given the App Store seal of approval, as well as possibly to use the phone with a non-AT&T service provide like T-Mobile ... is now super duper unlikely.
More importantly, the secret dudes working tirelessly as part of the shadow organization known as the iPhone Dev-Team are also somewhat less likely to be targeted for a lawsuit over the notion that jailbreaking a legally purchased iPhone is somehow a copyright violation.
Of course, none of this means you can break the law in other ways, nor does it mean that Apple must honor its iPhone warranty if its customers modify their operating systems.
So what does jailbreaking get you? First, it frees up your phone to use with another carrier. In the U.S., this is T-Mobile. This is not that big of a deal, but for the AT&T (NYSE: T) haters who have somehow not already jailbroken their iPhones, well, they can move to T-Mobile, like they could before. But T-Mobile might start creating some interesting marketing programs and plans to make such a move more pleasant and enticing.
Seems to me that T-Mobile could run a happy little side business just for handling service for jailbroken iPhones.
Sucks for Apple
There are several downsides for Apple, though. First, Apple's reputation could pick up a bit of tarnish -- much more than funky antennas -- if the popular iPhone starts failing. Say it drops calls with T-Mobile, or a jailbroken iPhone picks up an application that collects personal financial data and sells it to Russian crime syndicates, who then steal millions of dollars from hapless consumer accounts. But wait, it gets worse -- what happens when the crime syndicate finds out that some rich CEO of a major corporation is using a jailbroken iPhone that tells the criminals where he's at, so he gets kidnapped and all the media headlines shout out something like, "iPhone Leads Kidnappers Straight to CEO."
Absurd? Sure. How about a new porn store with hundreds of thousands of new customers? How might that tarnish Apple's reputation? It might, but here's the deal: Apple's response to bigger problems, like dealing with antenna reception and perception issues, will be far more important to the company's success.
No App Store Sales?
What about the ability of a jailbroken phone to bypass the official Apple App Store? Won't that mean a major loss of revenue for Apple? Highly unlikely. First off, anyone who really wants a jailbroken iPhone has already done it. Second, for cautious tech geeks (like me) who loath Apple's shackles (the cuffs aren't that bad), having a jailbroken iPhone is now only more appealing than it was last week. That means more people using iPhones, albeit jailbroken ones, rather than the competition's phones. Third, what's the purpose of buying an app from somewhere other than the official App Store?
Availability. Pretty much the only compelling reason to take your iPhone app business elsewhere is to get an app that Apple, for whatever reason, won't approve of. Still, this might actually be a win-win. Instead of being a bitter customer mad at Apple for rejecting a really cool app, I could be a happy Apple customer with an app that Apple isn't responsible for. So if you want a tasteless app, this is good news.
Plus, this may actually increase pressure on Apple to approve more apps than ever before.
Good for Us
Overall, though, this is great news for consumers everywhere. It helps remove silly restrictions from devices that we legally purchase, and it breaks down arbitrary barriers and draconian lock-in.
It gives us choice. It gives us the freedom to tinker.
Assuming that the wizards on the Dev Team can crack iOS 4, will I jailbreak my iPhone 4? Maybe. Probably not. With more than 200,000 apps in the App Store, I'm not sure what I really need. T-Mobile in my area of the world isn't all that great. AT&T actually is. Still, I've got this old iPhone 3G sitting on my desk, and the only thing I need is some free time on my hands to let it loose and start exploring.
MacNewsWorld columnist Chris Maxcer has been writing about the tech industry since the birth of the email newsletter, and he still remembers the clacking Mac keyboards from high school -- Apple's seed-planting strategy at work. While he enjoys elegant gear and sublime tech, there's something to be said for turning it all off -- or most of it -- to go outside. To catch him, take a "firstnamelastname" guess at Gmail.com.
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