Exemption Will Allow ‘Jailbreaking’ of iPhones

Apple likes to maintain tight control over what programs can appear on the iPhone — a task that just became a little bit harder.

The Library of Congress, which has the power to define exceptions to an important copyright law, said on Monday that it was legal to bypass a
 phone’s controls on what software it will run to get “lawfully obtained” programs to work.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit digital rights group, had asked for that exception to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to allow the so-called jailbreaking of iPhones and other devices.

“This is a really important victory for iPhone owners,” said Corynne McSherry, a senior staff lawyer with the foundation. “People who want to tinker with their phones and move outside of the Applesphere now have the ability to legally do that.”

The issue has been a topic of debate between Apple, which says it has the right to control the software on its devices, and technically adept users who want to customize their phones as they see fit. In a legal filing last year with the United States Copyright Office, which is part of the Library of Congress, Apple argued that altered phones infringed on its copyrights because they used modified versions of Apple’s operating system.

Apple also said that altering the phones encouraged the pirating of applications, exposed iPhones to security risks and taxed the company’s customer support staff.

“Apple’s goal has always been to ensure that our customers have a great experience with their iPhone, and we know that jailbreaking can severely degrade the experience,” said Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for Apple. “As we’ve said before, the vast majority of customers do not jailbreak their iPhones, as this can violate the warranty and can cause the iPhone to become unstable and not work reliably.”

But iPhone hobbyists say they simply want to have free range to use certain features and programs on their phones that Apple has limited or failed to offer.

For example, one popular unapproved application lets users sync their music and video clips with their computer over Wi-Fi, without using a cable. Another enables tethering, or the ability to share the iPhone’s Internet connection with a computer, something for which iPhone owners are supposed to pay AT&T an extra $20 a month.

An underground network of forums that walk iPhone owners through the jailbreaking process have flourished online, as have storefronts that sell the unapproved applications.

Mario Ciabarra, who operates a software store called Rock Your Phone, said the jailbreaking decision was “extremely exciting” for application developers.

“There’s been some negative connotations with the jailbreak community,” he said. “That legitimacy will go a long way in terms of bolstering our business and the apps business.”

Mr. Ciabarra said he thought that the Library of Congress’s decision could increase the appeal of the phone and attract new users who have been turned off by what many perceive as Apple’s heavy-handed approach to the phone and its application store.

“The independent community makes the phone so much more appealing to users,” he said. “There’s a whole world of possibilities for what you can do with your phone.”

Apple had not actively pursued any specific sites or developers that assist people in jailbreaking. But its penchant for exerting control over its products has kept many people on edge, said Mark Janke, who runs a jailbreaking forum called Hack That Phone.

“I was really concerned for a while,” Mr. Janke said. “People were worried about running jailbreaking Web sites or being prosecuted for bringing their jailbroken phones into the Apple Store.”

The ruling, he said, was “a big win” for jailbreaking fans.

“It gives us the ability to do the things we’ve wanted to do — should be able to do — with our phones,” he said.

The last few months have been something of a challenge for Apple, known for maintaining a kind of hermetic seal around itself and its products. Recent troubles like the leak of a secret phone prototype and the antenna problems reported by some owners of the iPhone 4 have chipped away at that image somewhat.

“They still maintain an iron fist over everything they can. That won’t change,” said Mukul Krishna, an analyst at Frost & Sullivan who follows trends in digital media. He added, “There are certain things now beyond their control.”

Even with the slip-ups, Apple is still keeping its customers captivated, said Shaw Wu, an analyst at Kaufman Brothers. “Apple has gotten more scrutiny lately, but it hasn’t shown up in the sales figures yet,” he said. “People are buying their products in droves, and I’m not sure a government ruling changes that.”

In addition to this decision, the Library of Congress also granted an exception to artists who remix copy-protected video content for noncommercial work, and renewed its approval for cellphone owners to “unlock” their phones or lift controls that restrict use to one wireless carrier.


NYTimes