Jailbreak iPhone Still Legal but iPad has a Different Story
Jailbreak iPhone Still Legal but iPad has a Different Story - Apple users are well aware about jailbreaking as you need to get your iPhone or other Apple products jailbroken for various reasons. However, the question is not how to get your iPhone jailbroken but if it jailbreaking is legal or not. Latest development in this issue has arrived today as the Library of Congress has issued a notification stating that according to Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) jailbreaking is legal.
The ruling has been carried out for those DMCA exemptions that have already expired. Keeping this fact in mind, the body has ruled out new exemptions and according to the new rulings, jailbreaking is still legal. However, this creates some complications about the issue as well.
Jailbreak iPhone Still Legal but iPad has a Different Story
There was never any doubt that jailbreaking is illegal but there was always a risk involved because Apple could have taken a legal action against jailbreaking at any time to announce it illegal. Anyways, according to latest development, jailbreaking is not illegal in anyway.
The list of exemptions include iPhone clearly so iPhone jailbreaking is not illegal however judges were not certain about tablets so iPad is not included in the list of exempted devices.
A common practice among smartphone users is to unlock their phones so they can switch between carriers or use those phones in other countries. In the latest exemption list, unlocking the smartphones has not been added which means that from now onwards, smartphone unlocking is illegal.
There is no confirmed decision about iPad so far. It simply means that nothing about iPad jailbreaking can be said with certainty. Perhaps, we will have to wait and see if the governing body announces iPad jailbreaking legal or the decision is taken other way around.
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Ok is it legal or illegal to unlock iPhones
Yes it is illegal to unlock.
That’s not accurate. It is still legal to unlock–for now. Any phone purchased after January 23rd 2013 from its original carrier will be illegal to unlock yourself (you can still get the carrier to unlock it according to its own policies) but all phones now are currently still legal to unlock. This includes all iPhones regardless of model sold before January 23rd 2013, and any older models that have already been purchased from a given carrier. And remember, it applies to the original purchase. For example: If you buy an iPhone 5 in February 2013 off of eBay or Craigslist you can still unlock it, as long as the original owner bought it prior to January 23rd.
I currently have an iPad in layaway from Walmart. I hope that if they say it is illegal to jailbreak they will say the same with unlocking where if you purchased it before the decision that any iPads purchased before can be jailbroken.