“In 1998, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which makes it a felony to distribute products ‘primarily designed’ for circumventing copy-protection schemes like the one on the iPhone,” Timothy B. Lee writes for Forbes. “Breaking the law ‘willfully and for purposes of commercial advantage’ can get you a half-million dollar fine and five years in prison.”
“The Copyright Office has the power to grant exceptions to some parts of the DMCA, and it has ruled that jailbreaking phones is legal. However, it does not have the power to grant exceptions for the prohibition on circumvention devices,” Lee writes. “So you’re allowed to jailbreak your iPhone, but anyone who provides you with software to help you do it is a potential felon… When Apple decided to lock down the iPhone, it was effectively invoking the force of criminal law against jailbreaking. That seems like a restriction on users’ freedom to me…”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Dear Apple: Whatever you do, please keep us locked in your crystal prison – May 31, 2012
EFF: ‘Apple’s Crystal Prison and the Future of Open Platforms’ – May 29, 2012