Jailbreaking legalized

The U.S. Copyright Office and the Library Congress gave the OK to iPhone jailbreaking, ruling against Apple. In the past Apple has claimed jailbreaking violated the terms of fair use and jeopardized security.

Through jailbreaking, users can unlock a device and enable third-party unsigned code to run. Apple lost a bid to have jailbreaking the iPhone declared a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. In its decision, the U.S. Copyright Office and the Library of Congress sided with the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF's) contention that jailbreaking the iPhone was not prohibited by the act.

"Copyright law has long held that making programs interoperable is fair use," said Corynne McSherry, EFF senior staff attorney, in a statement.

Source: eWeek.