Jailbreaking now illegal for Tablets and E-Book Readers

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by Barty

It may mean mobileread can no longer host or link to things like the kindle dev corner.

Mobileread is Canadian. Are you thinking we didn't learn our lesson in the War of 1812 and are about to invade again?

More seriously, none of the millions of incarcerated Americans are in the slammer for rooting their Kindles, and this will continue to be. I have an extremely hard time seeing middle class hardware hackers as a persecuted minority.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

More seriously, none of the millions of incarcerated Americans are in the slammer for rooting their Kindles, and this will continue to be. I have an extremely hard time seeing middle class hardware hackers as a persecuted minority.

I guess you don't remember Dimitry Skylarov. Here's a link to the USA Today article back in 2001: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/...ian-hacker.htm

That wasn't for hardware hacking, but for busting the encryption on Adobe PDF files. So Apprentice Alf is right to be wary.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by rkomar

I guess you don't remember Dimitry Skylarov.

Your best counter-example to my claim about eReader hacking is someone acquitted five years before the first Kindle was introduced?

So Apprentice Alf is right to be wary.

I see no difference between that web site and one telling people how to pick locks. Many people use lock-picking skills, whether physical or digital, for pro-social reasons, but many do not. My personal preference is for such sites to be legal, but freedom of speech for lock-pickers is not a fundamental freedom.

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

I see no difference between that web site and one telling people how to pick locks. Many people use lock-picking skills, whether physical or digital, for pro-social reasons, but many do not. My personal preference is for such sites to be legal, but freedom of speech for lock-pickers is not a fundamental freedom.

I see a better parallel with advertisements for locksmiths. They can help you when you have locked yourself out. Can their services be used for illegal means? Of course. Would realtors prefer that we have to buy a new house every time that happens? Of course.

[rkomar]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

Your best counter-example to my claim about eReader hacking is someone acquitted five years before the first Kindle was introduced?


I see no difference between that web site and one telling people how to pick locks. Many people use lock-picking skills, whether physical or digital, for pro-social reasons, but many do not. My personal preference is for such sites to be legal, but freedom of speech for lock-pickers is not a fundamental freedom.

He was acquitted after spending almost a year and a half in jail. In a foreign jail, at that. So, it's not like he was only mildly inconvenienced by his arrest.

When a big corporation wants something done, the government becomes more interested than it otherwise might be in these cases.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

Your best counter-example to my claim about eReader hacking is someone acquitted five years before the first Kindle was introduced?


I see no difference between that web site and one telling people how to pick locks. Many people use lock-picking skills, whether physical or digital, for pro-social reasons, but many do not. My personal preference is for such sites to be legal, but freedom of speech for lock-pickers is not a fundamental freedom.

Freedom of speech is Fundamental to America. It has to be the great exception to take it away.

The usual exception given is "falsely shouting fire" in a crowded theater where the resulting turmoil might bring immediate danger to people.

Freedom of speech doesn't mean that you can coax or trick people into criminal activity (like a contract murder), or use the freedom of speech to commit that kind of activity (fraud) yourself.

[doubleshuffle]

Originally Posted by Katie1

An UNBred cow doesnt produce milk ....

You may have a bit of a point there...

[Katie1]

The name JAILBREAKING should give folks an idea that it IS ILLEGAL!

I wish the goverment would work on removing Porn & How to Make a Bomb web sites & books than to worry IF some one it changing software on an ereader... Cause really which is more dangerous

[Teknikal]

Originally Posted by Katie1

The name JAILBREAKING should give folks an idea that it IS ILLEGAL!

I wish the goverment would work on removing Porn & How to Make a Bomb web sites & books than to worry IF some one it changing software on an ereader... Cause really which is more dangerous

Nah it's simply pointing out IOS and iTunes is a jail and a locked in system, with android I can buy apps from several stores or install them manually.

I have a big iTunes library with hundred's of bought apps but I abandoned it anyway, not many people can bring themselves to do that and in essence they are locked in.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by crich70

Next they'll be saying linux is an illegal OS ...

Too late by years. In 2008 a school teacher confiscated linux CDs being given away by a student, not because of class disruption or anything similar, but because they were "illegal". To be fair, the teacher eventually admitted the error of her ways, but willful ignorance of facts by those in authority is a very real problem.

http://linuxlock.blogspot.com/2008/1...kids-back.html

[WillysJeepMan]

Originally Posted by wizwor

The best way to combat this is to heighten public awareness and promote alternatives. IOW, do not buy products which do not specifically grant broad license to the purchaser.

A kind of You Didn't Build That campaign against DCMA -- You Don't Own That.

How big a deal would it be to switch from Nexus, Apple, Amazon to some comparable Chinese manufacturer?

There is a lot of protection -- at least circular illogic -- regarding the ability to extract a digital copy from optical media. Again, use the government's loophole (public libraries) to circumvent this. Instead of buying a DVD, borrow it from a library.

That's the answer -- boycott. Simply do not spend money on products with unfair licenses.

Absolutely!

[wizwor]

Thank you WillysJeepMan. If you are really serious of going to war with the IP Jihadists, unsubscribe from Netflix, Prime, Cable, et al. Put an antenna on your roof and make a statement

[teh603]

Originally Posted by wizwor

Thank you WillysJeepMan. If you are really serious of going to war with the IP Jihadists, unsubscribe from Netflix, Prime, Cable, et al. Put an antenna on your roof and make a statement

I'd suggest getting one of those omnidirectional ones that go in the attic. Antennas on the roof are lightning magnets.

[wizwor]

Depends on your situation. I have a very directional UHF antenna coupled with a less directional vhf antenna in my attic. I sacrifice a little signal loss by being lower than my roof and going through a wall, but have less weather/lightning concerns and much easier maintenance.

[Ninjalawyer]

Originally Posted by l_macd

I didn't think it was technically legal to jailbreak or hack a device in the first place?

It breaches the anti-circumvention sections of the DMCA. The Librarian of Congress can grant exemptions periodically, but without one jailbreaking a device does in fact breach the Act. Also rejected this time around was an exemption to allow people to rip DVDs they legally own for the purposes of watching the video on their computer or tablet. Oh well, maybe next year.

It is a complete farce that the DMCA restricts everyone's' freedom to use their own purchases to such an extent that the Librarian of Congress has to grant exemptions to allow people to do things that no one thinks are morally wrong. It is even more of a farce that those exemptions seem so arbitrary.