[ https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/12/why-apple-and-sony-amazon-microsoft-etc-should-support-jailbreaking ]
December 05 2011
Yesterday, EFF asked [ https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-seeks-widen-exemptions-won-last-dmca-rulemaking ] the U.S. Copyright Office to grant an exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act for “jailbreaking” smart phones, tablets, and video game consoles. The exemptions are designed to dispel any legal clouds that might prevent users from running applications and operating systems that aren’t approved by the device manufacturer. The exemptions stem from section 1201 of the DMCA, which prohibits circumvention of “a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title.”...
The popularity of tablets has exploded over the past few years, and EFF wants users of devices such as the iPad and NOOK to have the same benefits as smartphone users have enjoyed for the past three years. But that’s not all. We are also applying for an exemption for video game consoles. - EFF
10:59 AM EST
Why Apple (and Sony, Amazon, Microsoft etc.) Should Support Jailbreaking
By Anonymous
December 05 2011
PJ, did you change your mind about jailbraking?
12:42 PM EST
Why Apple (and Sony, Amazon, Microsoft etc.) Should Support Jailbreaking
By PJ
December 05 2011
I never change my mind about staying legal.
And I'll always show you where that line is,
so you know. But I'm a GNU/Linux fan, so
I very much appreciate having the freedom
to do whatever I want on my own devices.
I do hope that the law will change so that
we have the same freedom on phones and
tablets as on PCs currently.
That headline is EFF's, by the way, and
they are not advocating jailbreaking. They
are saying that when the US copyright office
allowed jailbreaking of phones, it resulted in
good things. So they are asking that it
be spread to tablets, which didn't exist
when they last wrote to them, and PCs as
folks try to lock them down, to
every device, and especially that it be
expanded to cover folks like Georg Hotz.
02:46 PM EST
Why Apple (and Sony, Amazon, Microsoft etc.) Should Support Jailbreaking
By Anonymous
December 05 2011
>>But I'm a GNU/Linux fan, so
>>I very much appreciate having the freedom
>>to do whatever I want on my own devices.
Thank you.
Two years ago, you were against jailbraking the iPhone. You wrote the following
on May 2, 2009:
"It may be your automobile; but it's Apple's business, associated with the
apps, not the gadget alone, and it's Apple's brand. Brand matters, and brand is
built on quality. If, for example, someone passed a law that everyone could put
whatever they wish on Groklaw and I lost control over that, I'd shut Groklaw
down rather than see it ruined. From dealing with spammers, I know exactly how
ruined it would quickly be. Apple says they block bandwidth hog apps and porn
and other things they don't want to be associated with, like Baby Shaker. I'd
want to be able to do that too, because it affects the brand, not just the
business model. At the end of the day, this will be decided on the basis of the
legal issues the EFF has raised, but common sense tells me that Apple won't sell
certain gadgets that people really love if this exemption is approved. This is
part of the periodic review of the DMCA, and the article has a link to the 9
proposed exemptions [ http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2008/12/hackers-others/ ]
being considered now."
10:22 PM EST
Why Apple (and Sony, Amazon, Microsoft etc.) Should Support Jailbreaking
By PJ
December 05 2011
Well, people often mistake what I think. I
am complex, and you can't define me with a
paragraph here or there.
I do understand Steve Jobs' type of creativity,
and his artistic sense. I totally get it. And
as a creative person myself, I would want to
fulfill my own artistic vision, and I would want
to be able to control apps, so my kids could
safely use the apps store and so the overall
experience fulfilled my vision.
I wouldn't care what critics thought, because
artistic visions aren't about that.
But that isn't the entirety of my ability
to think and feel about any subject, including
that one. I *always* prefer FOSS,
personally, despite my ability to get his
viewpoint as a creative person, and the more
Apple closes off, which it is,
the more certain I am that it's not the
direction I want to go in.
My point about Apple was that you don't have to
use their products. If they want to do something
artistic and controlled, let people use their products
if they want to.
But don't let it be the only option. And I personally
view it as more productive to work on alternatives than
to try to force closed-types to open up. But I also
see that what EFF and SFLC are doing is legally important.
Like I say, I'm complex. So is the situation.
So no, I haven't changed. I see that the Android apps
store had to have controls too, because there are
really awful people in this world, and they try to
ruin things that are lovely. So jailbreaking
is fine, if it's legal, but watch your back.
There's a story in the news today about some
guys in China offering a Siri app that breaks
stuff. There's good and bad in jailbreaking.
EFF is stressing the good side. But there is
a dark side too. I've seen it, running Groklaw,
and I'd never run anything as a free for all.
But then, the Linux kernel isn't run that way
either, if you think about it.
I make choices for Groklaw, because I care about it
so much and I have a certain vision for it and I
don't let it be taken in directions that offend me.
But that doesn't stop you from doing your own website
any way *you* want. Or making suggestions. If you are
right, I'll accept them.
In the same sense, Jobs was an artistic guy, with
a vision, a detailed vision for each product,
each category too, and I would not want to interfere
with any artist, personally.
Apple makes truly beautiful products that actually
delight people.
How rare is that in the history of the world?
Does Microsoft even try for that?
It was a unique thing.
I wish Linux would try for a bit more of that, and I
wish some brainiac with money would see how valuable
it is to own the hardware and the software, and make
delightful GNU/Linux products where the two work
well together.
I prefer FOSS software, because of the freedom and
because you can control your own PC and because I
want to be able to see what it's doing, but let's
be real -- Apple hardware spoils you.
The problem with what the proprietary guys are doing
isn't that they are closed off themselves so much as
that they are trying to close off everything, so we will have to use their
stuff.
That's not OK with me and it never has been, as you
ought to have figured out by my devoting nearly
a decade as a volunteer at great cost and some
danger while trying to make sure
SCO couldn't ruin Linux.
11:21 PM EST
Copyright 2011 http://www.groklaw.net/