Despite its formal opposition, Apple has done little to crack down on consumers who jailbreak their phones, beyond instituting half-hearted firmware changes that jailbreak developers easily circumvent. The legal status of jailbreaking, however, is not yet settled. Apple claims it is illegal under the much maligned Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). But major movers in the technology legal arena call Apple's restrictions both harmful to innovation and an improper application of DMCA rules. Open source browser developer Mozilla joined the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in requesting an exemption to the DMCA specifically clarifying that installation of legal apps on cell phones does not infringe the phone manufacturer's copyright. Worse, iPhone users belatedly discovered that Apple can reach out and delete applications from their phones.
Developers: Jailbreaking spurs Apple innovation
Jailbreaking began with the first-generation iPhone, under the auspices of a band of volunteer programmers called the iPhone Dev Team, which created the first application installer long before Apple launched its iPhone App Store less than a year ago. That installer, named Installer, enabled users to download apps from a variety of repositories at a time when Apple limited customers to the apps it delivered with the phone. Some question whether Apple would have created its own store without the impetus of the rogue Installer.
Apple's App Store has since become a huge success, and analysts agree it is the single differentiator most responsible for continued growth in iPhone sales, enriching both Apple and third-party developers. But Apple's confusing policies on "acceptable" applications continue to rile developers who labor for months over complex apps only to have Apple reject them for nondescript reasons. Rebuffed developers like Alex Sokirynsky, whose app podcaster got bounced by Apple, tried an end run by delivering their apps via the iPhone SDK distribution channel. But Apple quickly blocked this trick.
