Cell Phone 'Jailbreaking' Officially Granted DMCA Exemption

[guruoo]

Jailbreaking Officially Granted DMCA Exemption

Dan Moren, Macworld
Jul 26, 2010 2:00 pm

If you jailbreak your iPhone to add third-party software, you can do so with the comfort of knowing you aren't violating copyright laws, after a federal ruling came down on Monday.

The U.S. Librarian of Congress ruled on Monday that consumers who circumvent digital protections on smartphones to install unapproved applications--a practice often colloquially known as "jailbreaking"--for noninfringing reasons should be exempted from prosecution under the anti-circumvention section of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

The proposed exemption on jailbreaking was first put forth in 2008 by the Electronic Freedom Foundation, which argued that users should be allowed to jailbreak their phones to install, for personal use, legally acquired third-party software. Apple, for its part, argued against the exemption in an extensive filing contending that an exemption for jailbreaking would lead to more widespread piracy and additional support costs for the company. Two software developers, the Mozilla Corporation and Skype Communications, filed documents in support of the EFF's argument.

The DMCA specifically prohibits the circumvention of copy-protection technology such as Digital Rights Management (DRM). Every three years, however, the Librarian of Congress--on recommendation of the Register of Copyrights--issues a ruling on classes of materials that are exempt from that stipulation for noninfringing uses. The rulings expire after three years, meaning that the previous exemptions granted in 2006, 2003, and 2000 are no longer valid today. The other exemptions granted by the Librarian on Monday allow circumvention of protections for copyrighted material on DVD for educators, documentary filmmakers, and noncommercial videos; software to allow phones to connect to cellphone networks; breaking video game protection measures for the purposes of testing; obsolete computer programs requiring a dongle that is broken; and e-books where protections prevent the use of screen readers and read-aloud functions.

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http://www.pcworld.com/article/201897/jailbreaking_officially_granted_dmca_exemption.html

[girl gone mad]

1. Yay! I'm not a criminal.

:)

[Edweird]

2. MMT? You play synths? Or is that a different MMT?

[girl gone mad]

3. different mmt :)

http://www.3spoken.co.uk/2010/04/primer-on-modern-monetary-theory-mmt.html">Modern Monetary Theory (with wonkish econ. links)

[Edweird]

4. Ok :)

I was thinking of KORG MMT (Multi Modeling Technology)