Posted on by Mick - Follow me on Twitter

3672063214 eae80db339 o Did You Hear That Jailbreaking Your iPhone Is Legal?

credit attributed to http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenneth_hynek/

For all of you who don’t know what I may be talking about; Jail-breaking is a process to “unlock” a mobile phone, giving it the ability to install and run 3rd party software. The most popular of these devices being the Apple iPhone. People use to worry about problems with this and if they were breaking the law. Well, now things have changed a little.

On Monday, the U.S Copyright Office ruled that jail-breaking a mobile device will no longer violate federal copyright laws.  So, now you are free to unlock your phones if you so choose and install 3rd party software, without worrying that you are breaking the law. This will make people happy who want to try and use the iPhone on a carrier like T-Mobile. However, you are still not completely “free.”  Jail-breaking your iPhone still violates the Apple iPhone Software License Agreement and can cause problems with your device.  Also, if you choose to unlock your iPhone, you will have to do so every time a new updates comes out for iOS.

My own option on this is; I like the ability to do what I want with my device and using 3rd party software.  Although, I also want my device to work.  I have seen many people go and jail-break their phone and then have something happen to it. I believe this ruling shows how things are changing and how users love to have their freedom with their mobile devices, but just be careful what you do with that freedom.

Further reading:

Apple iPhone  OS 4

Why Are People Afraid To Use Macs Over PC’s?

Is Apple Really At Fault?

Which Cell Phone Is The Best Tech Gadget?

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Posted in Apple | Comments (12)

  • http://Miicko9.tumblr.com Mick

    So I was watching Attack of the Show and they reported on this topic. For those of you who might want to give Jailbreak a try, things have become alot easiler.
    If you don’t know before it use to be somewhat diffcult to install and Jailbreak your device, but now it’s as simple as unlocking you device. Go to jailbreakme.com; slide the unlock tab and it’s Done.
    I posted this comment using my iTouch which I just got done Jailbreaking. One word to the wise…Backup before, just in case

  • http://bluetinko9.tumblr.com Laurin

    Good post Mick. You are good at finding interesting topics and then talking about them. I also like hearing you own option on it too, you do have a passion for this stuff.

  • http://twitter.com/Twisted_X009 Steve

    Nice post Mick.
    I read about this and saw the piece on G4 the other night. I think this is a Huge step for the digital world and technology. It is giving the users the Freedom that we deserve and I like how popular it has all become.

    Jailbreakme.com does work

  • http://dkangel09.tumblr.com Baily

    So, I know that you can Jailbreak an iPhone, but would any of this have to do with other devices? Like Droids, Blackberries, maybe even Palms

  • Stephine

    WOW, Nice post!! I enjoyed reading it

    Both Frank and Mick did a good job on this one. Keep up the good work guys…I’ll be back to read more

  • http://www.socialtechzone.com Frank

    All the credit should be given to Mick, Stephine. He wrote the post and his articles always have a lot of valuable information.

  • http://www.socialtechzone.com Frank

    Are you referring to whether or not you can jailbreak other devices besides an iPhone? I don’t believe there are ways to do that, but I could be wrong. If someone knows though, I would hope they would correct me.

  • http://www.socialtechzone.com Frank

    I just heard about Jailbreakme.com the other day. It seems like the simplest way possible to jailbreak an iPhone and apparently it works real well also. Have you used it before? I’d be interested to know how well it works.

  • http://www.socialtechzone.com Frank

    I’ve always believed that anyone who has a passion for something should run with it and write about. Mick does find some really great information to talk about and I’m glad he’s a writer on the site.

  • http://miicko9.tumblr.com Mick

    Apple released a new update!! iOS 4.0.2; Kills jailbreak.me

    http://t3chh3lp.com/blog/apple-releases-ios-402-iphone-322-ipad-kills-jailbreakmecom.html

  • http://dedicatedemailserverhosting.com/ jeff

    You would hate to pay all that money to buy the phone then screw it up by putting other things on it.

  • http://www.socialtechzone.com Frank

    Very true, Jeff. Me personally, I would never jailbreak a phone regardless of the type of phone. I don’t want to take the chances of ruining a device that I invested a lot of money into.