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In the obscure world of copyright law, it is now technically OK to jailbreak an iPhone. That's according to a Library of Congress ruling, which has designated replacing the operating system of the phone with a less restrictive one to fall under the "fair use" guidelines.
Fair use is the standard under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that permits some specific uses of copyrighted material by non-copyright holders. Software programs -- like the iPhone's operating system -- are covered, along with works of art such as music and movies.
Technology and law collide when the Library of Congress rules, every three years, on exactly what constitutes fair use in terms of ripping encrypted DVDs and installing software that can access their content for users of computers and other devices.
It is, by all standards, a very fine hair to split. Yet there it is. The federal authorities cannot prosecute an iPhone owner for using the small bit of Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) code that must remain on the phone for it to be operational. Once the phone is jailbroken, users can install applications on the phone that do not comply with Apple's standards for sale in the iTunes App Store.
Fair Doesn't Mean Good Idea
How much approval can users now look forward to after jailbreaking their iPhones? Not much, according to Josh Martin, senior analyst with Strategy Analytics.
"It is still a violation of the terms of service a user agrees to when they purchase an iPhone to jailbreak the device. That's not going to change anytime soon," he told MacNewsWorld.
That is, while prosecution under copyright law may not be imminent, users still will be holding a device that is off the grid in terms of service and support.
Then, there's the sticky issue of warranty to address. Apple has stated clearly that jailbreaking an iPhone automatically nullifies the device's warrantly. The company likely will not change this stance just because a government agency has said that manipulating the hardware in such a way does not violate federal law.
"It doesn't seem to me that because legally someone is allowed to do something that Apple will be forced to cover them under a warranty," said Martin.
Copyright violation and warranty agreements are two separate realms, noted Carl Howe, director with the Yankee Group.
Apple certainly can and likely will continue to deny warranty service to iPhone owners and require them to either pay for service or replace the units themselves, Howe told MacNewsWorld. For a smartphone that costs in the hundreds of dollars, that can be a costly move.
Is 225,000 Apps Enough?
Most customers buy an iPhone specifically because it is easy to use, Howe pointed out.
One is left to wonder, then, why someone would want to make the device more difficult to use by operating outside of the Apple ecosystem.
"I don't see this ruling affecting any but a small slice of users who want to push the envelope of what they can do with their phones," said Howe. "For everyone else, 225,000 apps probably is enough."
What Apple can do is continue to make technical life tough for jailbreakers.
"Apple is under no obligation to make it easy to download applications Apple hasn't approved," said Howe. "Bottom line: Just because it's legal and technically possible doesn't mean many people will be or are interested in doing it."
In fact, prosecution was never an issue, according to Martin, so those who wanted to jailbreak their phones always have been realistically, though not technically, free to do so.
"I don't believe jailbreaks ever feared such a scenario of prosecution, so it's unlikely a new community of jailbreakers will emerge now," he said. "Those who jailbreak will continue, and those who don't still will not."
