The following is a re-post from
The
Electronic Frontier Foundations website . Lots of us have smartphones
these days and one of the best things about them is that you
can customize them to your own liking. Some manufacturers want limits
on what you can do with your device. My opinion is that if I bought a
smartphone I can do anything I wish to it, just as if I bought a car and
decided to modify it. You of course will have to form your own
opinion, please have a read.
Jailbreaking Is Not A Crime: Tell the Copyright Office to
Free Your Devices!
The Problem – Smartphones, tablets, and video game
consoles are powerful computers with lots of untapped potential. Yet many
of these devices are set up to run only software that’s been approved by the
manufacturer. Modifying a device to run independent software – known
as jailbreaking – is important to programmers, enthusiasts, and users. But
jailbreaking creates legal uncertainty. Some device manufacturers claim that
jailbreaking violates Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
(DMCA), which carries stiff penalties.
The Solution – EFF is asking the U.S. Copyright Office
to declare that jailbreaking does not violate the DMCA, and we need your help. In
2010, the Copyright Office said jailbreaking smartphones doesn’t violate the
DMCA. This year, we’re asking them to renew that exemption
(otherwise it will expire) and
expand
it to cover tablets. We’re also asking for a new exemption to allow
jailbreaking of
video
game consoles.
How You Can Help – The Copyright Office needs to hear
from people who depend on the ability to jailbreak to write, use, and/or tinker
with independent software (from useful apps to essential security fixes) for
smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. You can submit comments online at
this link.
Here are some questions you might want to address in your
comments:
- Which jailbreaking exemption are you
supporting—smartphones/tablets, video game consoles, or both?
- What's your background (i.e., are you a developer, hobbyist,
academic, independent researcher, user, etc.)?
- What device do you want to ensure you have the legal
authority to jailbreak?
- Please explain why you want to jailbreak this device. What
limitations do you face if you aren't able to jailbreak it? Is there software
you couldn't run, computing capabilities you wouldn't have, cool things you
couldn’t do, etc.?
- If you’re a developer, did an online application store
or console manufacturer reject your app or game? If so, what reasons did they
give?
- Is there anything else you want to tell the Copyright
Office?
Concrete examples will help show the Copyright Office why
they should renew and expand the exemptions for jailbreaking. Send your
comments to the Copyright Office at
http://www.copyright.gov/1201/comment-forms/. Where
the form says “Comment number(s) of proposed classes of works to which you are
responding,” enter a
“3” if
you’re writing about game consoles or a
“5” if
you’re writing about smartphones or tablets. You might consider also
entering a
"4" to
submit your comments in support of an exemption request proposed by the
Software Freedom Law Center to
allow jailbreaking of "personal computing devices."
Comments are due by February 10 at 5 PM Eastern Time. After
you send comments to the Copyright Office, please also send a copy of your
comments to
dmca-comments@eff.org so
that we can see what people are saying.
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