Illegal to Jailbreak a phone?

[Melena]

One of my friends just messaged me saying it's now illegal to jailbreak with a fine of 500k and 5 years in prison due to the DMCA rulings? Any truth on this? This is what i've found so far in google, but I could have sworn the Supreme Court said you legally could jailbreak a phone you own

http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/28/su...itch-carriers/

http://bgr.com/2013/01/24/smartphone...llegal-303627/

http://ipadminitweaks.blogspot.com/2...e-but-not.html

[Patriarch]

Better off just robbing a bank

Could wind up with less jailtime

[Kryssan]

Here was an article I found on CNN about it: Stuff ( link )

[hey]

Unless i'm missing something, this says nothing about jailbreaking, and only unlocking to use on another carrier? Jailbreaking phones is explicitly allowed under the dmca.

[Melena]

Unless i'm missing something, this says nothing about jailbreaking, and only unlocking to use on another carrier? Jailbreaking phones is explicitly allowed under the dmca.

Typically my understanding (I don't jailbreak) is that you have to jailbreak it to unlock it.

[Acevalefor]

I'm sure there's a joke here about corporate lobbying and Citizens United...

[Odesseiron]

Scared of getting turned in to the Apple Police?

You own it, do whatever the fuck you want with it.

[Obiron]

Looks like the whitehouse is promising to overturn this ruling:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-...ould-be-legal/

The White House responded to a petition calling for the legalization of cell phone unlocking on Monday.

The petition titled "Make Unlocking Cell Phones Legal" was posted two days before it became illegal for Americans to unlock cell phones to use with different wireless carriers. The rule was issued in October 2012 by the Librarian of Congress as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and went into effect on Jan. 26, 2013.

The new rule makes it illegal for people to unlock a cell phone without the permission of the carrier it was originally purchased from. If consumers want an unlocked phone, they must buy it that way.

The petition, which garnered 114,322 votes, argues that the rule forces consumers to pay exorbitant roaming fees when making calls abroad, reduces choices and decreases the resale value of the devices.

The White House responded by saying that it should be legal to unlock cell phones and suggests fixing the legislation to make clear that neither the law nor technological locks should prevent consumers from switching carriers, if they are not bound by a service contract.

"It's common sense, crucial for protecting consumer choice, and important for ensuring we continue to have the vibrant, competitive wireless market that delivers innovative products and solid service to meet consumers' needs," wrote R. David Edelman, a White House senior advisor on Internet, innovation and privacy. And pointed out that it is particularly important for secondhand or gift devices.

Edelman called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to work with the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to address the issue.

FCC chairman Julius Genachowski released a statement Monday saying he was concerned about how the rules would affect competition and innovation.

"From a communications policy perspective, this raises serious competition and innovation concerns, and for wireless consumers, it doesn't pass the common sense test," Genachowski wrote. "The FCC is examining this issue, looking into whether the agency, wireless providers, or others should take action to preserve consumers' ability to unlock their mobile phones. I also encourage Congress to take a close look and consider a legislative solution."

In an emailed statement, the petition's author Sina Khanifar says that Edelman called him to inform him that the White House would respond and was "enthusiastic about getting this fixed as quickly as possible."

Khanifar says he hopes that Section 1201 of the DMCA will be amended or removed altogether.

[miokomioko]

You own it, do whatever the fuck you want with it.

If only it were that simple. :/

[Ratatapa]

The article is kinda false (dididnt read it )

Jailbreaking is legal

Unlocking the phone (aka be able to switch carrier) is illegal with phone thats been manufactured from Jan 28 2013 and upward

USA only

but Jailbreaking the phone is legal

[Odesseiron]

If only it were that simple. :/

If that weren't the case, then wouldn't get fined for selling jailbroken/unlocked phones on ebay? I know people that made a very nice profit doing that kinda thing.

edit: I see rata's post. that clears things up a bit

[Ratatapa]

Jailbreaking vs Unlocking for those who doesn't know

http://www.cell-biology.org/unlocking-cell-phones/

So yeah unlocking is illegal now

[Acevalefor]

This is nothing but major carriers screwing consumers to get the most money they can from. Competition be damned. "You want to use our network? You get to buy our phone and pay ridiculous fees if you ever even think of leaving us."

Up until now I could buy a phone direct from a manufacturer, used off craigslist/ebay/any other selling site and choose the carrier I wanted as long as the phone was compatible. Now It seems they are taking steps to shut down the private market for cell phones and force you into their stores.

[kuronosan]

How is that any different from how business usually goes?

Don't you see a pattern? Consumers determine the market until the companies no longer control how it runs. Said companies then lobby to get laws in place that force consumers to play their game. Consumers get unhappy, companies go under (or dominate until they apex and then go under), consumers are happy again.

It's not surprising in today's corporate world of "Buy what we want you to" as opposed to "Buy what you like".

It should actually be common knowledge that all marketing is now-a-days is a gimmick to exploit a market rather than develop it.

[Kryssan]

The article was just the first thing I found about it, because I knew of the general timeframe. The specifics are as follows:

Jailbreaking - Smartphones: Legal
- Tablets: Illegal ( this is the major contention point, as I understand it )

Unlocking: Smartphones: Illegal ( unless authorized by your carrier )

Other interesting stuff includes that it is illegal to hack your gaming console ( nothing new there ) or rip DVDs for the purpose of creating electronic copies to play on a tablet / mobile device that does not otherwise have the capability of playing DVDs. I didn't look too specifically but I assume that doesn't apply to media that is already in a protected electronic format at purchase.


For more information, here are the actual DCMA changes effected on 28 Oct 2012. ( link ) Sorry for not doing better research. If it is classified under a DCMA specification, and it is not specified as an exemption, it is illegal to do under DCMA. The tablet stuff discussion starts at page 52.

[Salodin]

Everything except maybe the unlocking is impossible to enforce though. Frustrating how hard theyre trying when it has no real effect.

[Ratatapa]

Imei unlock but yeah

[hey]

This is nothing but major carriers screwing consumers to get the most money they can from. Competition be damned. "You want to use our network? You get to buy our phone and pay ridiculous fees if you ever even think of leaving us."

Up until now I could buy a phone direct from a manufacturer, used off craigslist/ebay/any other selling site and choose the carrier I wanted as long as the phone was compatible. Now It seems they are taking steps to shut down the private market for cell phones and force you into their stores.

Uh, no. They're trying to stop people from buying a locked phone from them (which they sell at a massive discount, because it can only be used on their network), and then using it on another network. That's it. If you have an unlocked phone, or a used phone locked to the network you use, you are free to use that.

If you want to complain that corporations are evil, just complain about one of the terrible things they actually do, instead of making shit up.

[archibaldcrane]

That's what contract termination fees are for, to compensate their subsidy of the phone.

[Melena]

That's what contract termination fees are for, to compensate their subsidy of the phone.

Exactly, once the contract is over, you should be free to go and take your phone with you.