Jailbreaking The iPhone Won’t Land You In The Slammer, Authorities Say

iphone reboot

One of the more obscure government bodies has ruled today that unlocking iPhones is perfectly within a consumer’s right, even if it is to download unauthorized software or to roam on other carrier networks.

Oddly enough, such matters fall into the lap of The Library of Congress, which oversees the Copyright Office. Every three years, it decides if there should be exemptions to a law that prohibits people from bypassing technical measures that companies put on their products to prevent unauthorized uses, AP reports.

A list of new exemptions was announced this morning, including the right to “jailbreak” iPhones, which is a pretty cumbersome and obscure practice. Consumers must rely on unauthorized third-parties to come up with hacks that will disable some of the phone’s security properties. The hacks are typically used to enable additional applications or to roam on carriers’ other than AT&T (NYSE: T). However, if users re-sync their iPhone to iTunes for the latest software updates, the phone will then be returned to its original state. It’s unclear whether this ruling will force Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) to provide a more legitimate way to open up its hardware.

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