Today, the Library of Congress ruled in favor of both jailbreaking and unlocking phones according to the Washington Post. Jailbreaking the iPhone allows you to shop for apps anywhere on the internet, not just the iTunes App Store, where all of the apps must be approved by Apple to go on sale.
Bypassing a manufacturer’s protection mechanisms to allow “handsets to execute software applications” is now permitted, explains C/Net.
The ruling responds to an EFF petition, one opposed by Apple, that maintains the current status quo, allowing iPhone owners to continue both practices, and pushes things even further.
Jailbreaking allows iPhone owners to download third party applications outside of Apple channels and unlocking offers a way to use iPhones on third party GSM networks, typically T-Mobile.
“Apple’s goal has always been to insure that our customers have a great experience with their iPhone and we know that jailbreaking can severely degrade the experience,” Apple said in a statement provided to Cult of Mac.
“Jailbreaking” means opening up the underlying file system on the phone for full read/write access. Once jailbroken, phone users are able to download many extensions and themes previously unavailable through the App Store via unofficial installers such as Cydia. Cydia’s libraries allow the installation of software packages, most of which are available to download at no cost, but it also includes the Cydia Store, which offers a number of applications for sale.
