Jailbreaking exemption in the DMCA about to expire, we all need to make sure it doesn’t

You may or may not be aware of this, but back in 2010 in the midst of Apple chasing and complaining about users jailbreaking their devices, the government added something to the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) originally created in 1998. They added a few clauses about jailbreaking. These additions essentially made it legal for anyone to jailbreak (or root) their own cell phone.

This essentially shut down Apple’s complaints that jailbreaking your device violating copyright as it allowed you to use unapproved applications on their product which, of course, is ridiculous. If you pay for a product, what you do with that product after the fact is entirely your business. And jailbreaking a device does not necessarily mean you are doing so to try and violate copyrighted material. If Apple’s argument were true, it would insinuate that you don’t own your iPhone after you pay for it, they still do and they can determine what you put on it. Thanks to the government and the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) that had massive support for the exemption, Apple didn’t get their way.Which brings us to why we are mentioning it today, the exemption was never made permanent and as such is about to expire. In order to continue this protection for users everywhere, the EFF asks for your help. If you want to help extend this exemption or learn more about it, please head to the EFF’s site and contact the Copyright Office and explain to them how being able to freely modify your own handset is something you firmly believe in and is something that effects you. Hurry though, comments must be in to the Copyright Office by February 5th, 2012.

EFF Jailbreaking Page

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