EFF (Electronics Frontier Foundation), announced this week, that they have filed a petition with the U.S. Libararian of Congress and Copyright Office to extend the exemption that makes jailbreaking or rooting a device possible without violating the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the United States.
The EFF, after fighting numerous battles with the Copyright Office, successfully won exemption for jailbreaking and rooting devices in the years 2010 and 2012. But due to the manner in which the U.S. Copyrights Office provides exemption, E.F.F. has to get exemption repeated, every three years.
This is what the non-profit digital rights group has to say,
That’s important because jailbreaking (or “rooting,” on Android devices) has real-world implications for users’ ability to use their phones and tablets effectively and securely. It may be a necessary step before installing security updates after a device has stopped being supported by the manufacturer. In other cases, it may help users install accessibility software that allows them to use a device despite disabilities.
Just months ago, we published a jailbreaking guide to your iOS8 device, which was released by a Chinese group named Pangu. The jailbreak has been approved by Cydia and noted Jailbreaking veteran Jay Freeman as “stable for use”.
Jailbreaking an iOS device or rooting an android device alters the original software to allow users to install apps, mods, tweaks, which would otherwise be un-installable in the original software. Since this alters the original software, it is considered violation under DMCA rules. EFF has been able to win exemptions consecutively for the past 2 times, and is hoping to repeat the same. (via 9t05 Mac)
