Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Jailbreaking a Smartphone is Now Legal

I must confess, I have heard of "rooting" a phone, but never "jailbreaking" a smartphone.  Now, I have said I have heard of "rooting," I make no mention as to whether I understand what "rooting" a smartphone is or even how to "root." 

Nevertheless, the United States Copyright Office recently published its exemptions to the DMCA (an act performed every three years) which included a ruling that "jailbreaking" a smartphone does not violate the DMCA.  After doing some digging, I learned that "jailbreaking" a phone is to unlock it so that it may download material from any marketplace, not just the approved marketplace.  Apparently, iPhones are the ones unlocked more often than not--this explains my lack of knowledge, since I am a proud Android user.  Of course, downloading illegal content is a no-no.

Adding to my confusion, is the fact that the Copyright Office's exemption only applies to phones purchased within 90 days of publication of the exemption.  Huh????? Oh, and do not even think about jailbreaking your tablet, that is still not allowed.  Double-huh????  Well, all I can say is come back in about three years and we can figure out if the Copyright Office catches up with the current times. 

2 comments:

  1. I understand your comment abut what's exempted and what's not. However, do courts actually get involved in end-users jailbreaking phones, tablets, and kindle's?

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  2. The courts get involved when a party brings it to the court's attention by way of an infringement or other lawsuit.

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