Mobilestead Blog

After keeping quiet on its stance of Jailbreaking, Apple has formally come out saying that this is an illegal practice. Before today, they simply said that this modification would simply void the warranty. More info on the legal context at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

As we all know, Apple’s iPhone comes with restrictions that prevent owners from running applications obtained from sources other than Apple’s own iTunes App Store. Prior to iPhone 2.0 and AppStore, which came out in July 2008, jailbreaking was the only way to run 3rd party applications. This voided the warranty, yet hundreds of thousands of users went ahead with this. Since these applications were typically free, when AppStore was officially opened, many developers moved their apps there and now had an ability to make money from their efforts. There are many applications that are rejected from the AppStore due to Apple’s or AT&T policies of offering competing services (using the iPhone camera for video, laptop tethering) or doing things in “unsupported” way. Also some applications can be banned for being “useless or offensive” (example: Obama Trampoline iPhone App)

Mozilla and Skype has come out saying that they are on the same page as Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) which has opposed the Apple’s new rule by filing an exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This exemption would take away Apple’s ability to charge groups with DMCA violations for circumventing the iPhone’s security by modifying Apple’s internal software.

Apple claims that by jailbreaking the software one is violating their copyright on the cellphone’s software. They justify the policy by saying that opening the iPhone to independently created applications will compromise safety, security and reliability. But shouldn’t I be able to run “buggy” software if I choose to?

An iPhone is a platform just like a PC and should be open to developers.

At Mobilestead, we use WebApps as much as possible as this avoids the Apple approval process and enhances portability between multiple platforms.