Skype And Mozilla Petition For iPhone ‘Jailbreaking’ Exemption

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Skype And Mozilla Petition For iPhone ‘Jailbreaking’ Exemption

Skype and Mozilla have joined the Electronic Frontier Foundation in fighting against Apple’s statement that jailbreaking the iPhone constitutes copyright infringement by circumnavigating protection measures. Skype and Mozilla filed comments with the US Copyright Office arguing that it should loosen the Digital Millenium Copyright Act’s restrictions on jailbreaking iPhones, reports The Register. Naturally, Skype and Mozilla have a vested interest in their products being able to be free loaded onto devices, and a vested interest against a manufacturer (or carrier) preventing people from installing the software. Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) is the main target here, but the decision would have ramifications across the mobile industry (and possibly other industries).

Apple is opposed to the exemption because “it will destroy the technological protection of Apple’s key copyrighted computer programs in the iPhone device itself and of copyrighted content owned by Apple that plays on the iPhone, resulting in copyright infringement, potential damage to the device and other potential harmful physical effects, adverse effects on the functioning of the device, and breach of contract”.

Is the question one of who has the right to control what goes on a device after it has been purchased? The New York Times has a piece on the topic, saying that isn’t really the issue. “Jennifer S. Granick, a lawyer for the E.F.F., said that Apple could force buyers of the phone to agree to any conditions it wants to write into a user agreement. But those agreements would be governed by contract law, which would force Apple to sue users and prove actual damages…Under copyright law, Apple would have the right to claim statutory damages of up to $2,500 “per act of circumvention”. People who jailbreak phones might even be subject to criminal penalties of as long as five years, if they circumvented copyright for a financial gain.”

Apple’s Comments PDF
Skype’s Comments PDF
Mozilla’s Comments PDF
EFF’s Comments PDF

James Quintana Pearce Feb 19, 2009 5:03 PM ET

Posted In: Gadgets, Legal, Regulatory, Technologies / Formats, Companies, Apple, iPhone, mozilla, skype

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X3

I ran across an interesting article titled "Talk Is Cheap" reviewing top VoIP programs at DealDogs.net. This is the article link [ http://dealdogs.net/?p=10668] here to read a description and see videos about top webchat programs.

jmmx

Disclosure:
1- long Apple
2- User of Skype
3- I own no cell phone of any type.

jmmx

Thanks for bringing this up. In particular, thanks for the links to the legal filings (comments) by the various parties. Very interesting.

Personally, although in general I am a strong supporter of openess, in this case I tend to agree more with Apple. I do believe that a significant objective is to protect the user experience and the safety of the device.

As for Skype (of which I am a HUGE FAN having lived in Estonia for a year) I have a double reaction. I most certainly believe that Apple has a responsibility to have the App Store open to any program that does not meet reasonable qualifications. Such qualifications, however, must be for the security of the device only, not because it conflicts with their business plan.

That said, however, we do have what I consider a reasonable conflict here. Be assured that I am NO fan of ATT. Yet one has to admit that they are in the business of providing phone service (no matter how poor). It is therefore unreasonable for a user to utilize their bandwidth in order to circumvent their own source of revenues. Therefore, I would suggest that Skype be allowed, but only on the Wifi network or when the carrier offers a plan that allows VOIP over their network.