Jailbreaking/Unlocking legal in the US

samer · 2010-07-26T21:44:25+00:00

Thanks to the EFF, it is now legal to unlock and jailbreak your iPhone in the US. I wonder if that will pressure Apple to drop the warranty voiding process f...

rolf

Dont worry about the phone companies. I bet they will find ways to make jailbreak-proof phones.

EddieEC

Apple issued a statement that Jailbreaking your phone will still void your warranty. And Jailbreaking is not complete legal because when you buy the device you sign the Terms of Service (ToS) which is a contract. And it says in the contract it is not allowed that the device to be modified to access root permissions (aka jailbreaking).
In several states breaking the contract is illegal, thus the whole Jailbreaking being legal thing is not legal everywhere. But it's a step forward.

xterm

No matter the state, you could take the jailbroken iPhone and wave it in front of Steve Jobs and there's no god damn thing he could do about it.

EddieEC

He can't take you to court, but he still has the rights to stop service for jailbroken iPhones as Apple's issued statement regarding the court's decision says.

samer

EddieEC wroteHe can't take you to court, but he still has the rights to stop service for jailbroken iPhones as Apple's issued statement regarding the court's decision says.

Jailbreaks and unlocks are reversible, just restore before taking it to Apple.

EddieEC

Didn't you hear about the rumors saying Apple will watermark jailbreaks. and the watermark will still be there after restore? They will still know if you jailbroke.

babum

im sure someone will come up with a way to break those watermarks.

ChickenExpress

My previous iphone (3G) was jailbroken since I didn't want to get a data plan at the time. Four months ago, I cracked my screen. The phone still functioned but was unusable. I restored the firmware and took it to an apple store where they changed my screen on the spot, no questions asked.

They probably would of still fixed the screen even with a modified OS since the damage was cosmetic, but I didn't want to risk it. I ended up selling the phone on ebay (making a profit) and getting a 3GS with a 2 year plan for dirt cheap, since they recently released this year's version. I'll eventually jailbreak this one, just for winterboard and a few folder/sorting hacks.

babum

If they had noticed that your iphone was jailbroken they could have just said no or charged you for the repair.

mezin

then you restore and go to another apple store

lorcan32

Another step to an open-source world!