Blog of Much Holding

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has posted the news that Apple has filed comments with the US Copyright Office stating that the act of jailbreaking your iPhone is a copyright infringement and a DMCA violation, and therefore illegal. The EFF says that Apple is claiming that jailbreak apps still require modified versions of Apple's software, and Apple apparently believes that those versions are infringing on their copyrights.

The EFF responds, in turn, that "reverse engineering is a fair use when done for purposes of fostering interoperability with independently created software," saying that yes, even though jailbreakers are using Apple's copyrighted code, they are doing so in a way that allows them functionality that Apple doesn't provide access to on their own.

At this point, of course, this is just a complaint in the copyright office, and Apple hasn't made any legal moves yet against anyone responsible for jailbreaking. As the EFF states, it would be extremely hard for them to go after individual jailbreakers -- if you buy an iPhone, it should be your right to "get under the hood," as they say, and do what you want.

But (and keep in mind that this is TUAW, not The Unofficial Legal Weblog, and we are not lawyers) it seems Apple may be able to try and make a case against anyone offering software that does modify or otherwise "misuse" their copyrighted code. We'll have to see if they explore that position more in the future. You can read Apple's full response here (27 pages). You can see the EFF's initial filings here.

Stay tuned for more news and analysis on the issue.

Apple says jailbreaking is illegal originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 13 Feb 2009 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple says jailbreaking is illegal originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 13 Feb 2009 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, Retail, Cult of Mac, Apple

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Rumors, Apple, MacBook

TUAW is hearing from various sources that new MacBooks are right around the corner, and that they might even have some extra Nvidia power in them. A source tells us that Nvidia is showing off new MacBooks to their employees, and word is going around that the new versions will be released as soon as October 14th.

Of course these are all rumors, so don't be surprised if 10/14 comes around and there are no changes in Apple's lineup. But the rumors have been adding up -- we've heard for a while that MacBooks were due for a refresh, and we're not the only ones hearing about Nvidia units being included as well. Not to mention that Apple has apparently finally realized that gaming is worth embracing, and the next logical step for a gaming upgrade would be the MBP line.

Don't put money on it, but if you're planning to buy a MacBook and can wait another few weeks, you might want to wait and see. I'm getting close to being in the market for a new laptop, and as a gamer, I'd love to see a MacBook with a little more graphical oomph to it.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Freeware, Apple, iPhone

Apple's made some strange changes to the App Store lately. While the reviews change was a good one, this latest update is just confusing: they removed all of the "See all" links from the sidebar of the main App Store page, including the much-visited "All Free Apps" that many of our readers used to browse the new free stuff in there.

Now, all that's there is a bunch of category links. You can still search for apps, obviously, and you can click on the Top Paid and Free apps to see those, and you can even click on the "See all" near "New," "What's Hot" and "Staff Favorites." But if you want to browse all the new Free apps in the store completely unfiltered, you're out of luck.

Why would this be? Depends on who's guessing -- if you're angry at Apple (perhaps one of many developers who haven't seen their apps in the store yet), you might claim that it's because Apple wants to keep a firm grip on just what new free apps get seen on the homepage. If you're so-so on the issue, it might be because you think Apple wanted to streamline the process and keep you from the hassle of browsing all the free trash yourself. And if you're what our kind commenters call a "fanboy," you might claim that Apple is just having problems with their store, or that they're actually trying to help developers by raising app prices.

Personally, I'm going for option D: someone working on the iTunes page didn't realize how popular the link was, and after a little outcry, it'll be back soon. In the meantime, there are still a few RSS feeds around that will help you keep tabs on what's showing up in the store.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Video, Apple, iPod nano, iPod touch

Apple has designed some beautiful stuff over the years, from the ][e (hey, I think it looks good) to the iPod, but you can take the new OfficialApple YouTube channel off that list -- it's hideous. The glaringly huge sidebar ads got squished and crunched, and managed to make even the new nanos and iPod touches look ugly.

On the plus side, the channel offers lots of Apple videos in the YouTube player, from tutorials to tours to TV ads, so that's nice -- what YouTube videos lack in quality they make up for in ease of use and playability. Sure, the comments aren't much to read (unless you're a glutton for punishment), but at least the videos work.

But what did they do to those icons?! I'm tempted just to report the background with the link at the bottom of the page -- not because it's offensive or crude, but just because it's so badly done.

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