Michelle Steiner

New gov't rules allow unapproved iPhone apps

Joelle Tessler, AP Technology Writer, On Monday July 26, 2010, 12:14 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Owners of the iPhone will be able to legally break
electronic locks on their devices in order to download software
applications that haven't been approved by Apple Inc., according to new
government rules announced Monday.

The decision to allow the practice commonly known as "jailbreaking" is one
of a handful of new exemptions from a 1998 federal law that prohibits
people from bypassing technical measures that companies put on their
products to prevent unauthorized uses. The Library of Congress, which
oversees the Copyright Office, reviews and authorizes exemptions every
three years to ensure that the law does not prevent certain non-infringing
use of copyright-protected material.

In addition to jailbreaking, other exemptions announced Monday would:
-- allow owners of used cell phones to break access controls on their
phones in order to switch wireless carriers.

-- allow people to break technical protections on video games to
investigate or correct security flaws.

-- allow college professors, film students and documentary filmmakers to
break copy-protection measures on DVDs so they can embed clips for
educational purposes, criticism, commentary and noncommercial videos.

-- allow computer owners to bypass the need for external security devices
called dongles if the dongle no longer works and cannot be replaced.

--
Check out the Hot Cocoa Party
<http://www.hotcocoaparty.info>

Jason S

On 2010-07-26 13:09:40 -0400, Michelle Steiner said:

> New gov't rules allow unapproved iPhone apps
>
> Joelle Tessler, AP Technology Writer, On Monday July 26, 2010, 12:14 pm
> WASHINGTON (AP) -- Owners of the iPhone will be able to legally break
> electronic locks on their devices in order to download software
> applications that haven't been approved by Apple Inc., according to new
> government rules announced Monday.
>
> The decision to allow the practice commonly known as "jailbreaking" is one
> of a handful of new exemptions from a 1998 federal law that prohibits
> people from bypassing technical measures that companies put on their
> products to prevent unauthorized uses. The Library of Congress, which
> oversees the Copyright Office, reviews and authorizes exemptions every
> three years to ensure that the law does not prevent certain non-infringing
> use of copyright-protected material.
>
> In addition to jailbreaking, other exemptions announced Monday would:
> -- allow owners of used cell phones to break access controls on their
> phones in order to switch wireless carriers.
>
> -- allow people to break technical protections on video games to
> investigate or correct security flaws.
>
> -- allow college professors, film students and documentary filmmakers to
> break copy-protection measures on DVDs so they can embed clips for
> educational purposes, criticism, commentary and noncommercial videos.
>
> -- allow computer owners to bypass the need for external security devices
> called dongles if the dongle no longer works and cannot be replaced.

Well this is interesting.
--
Jason