The U.S. Copyright Office has revised its rules on whether people can jailbreak smartphone, tablet and gaming console. It has also revised the rules of DVD copying. Among all these media, only jailbreaking of smartphone remains legal, the rest are deemed illegal.
The rules, governed by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, are re-examined every three years upon request from various quarters. Companies like Apple, Amazon, and a number of other high-profile device makers were proponents of ruling jailbreaking illegal. But, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Free Software Foundation (FSF), Mozilla, New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative and New Media Rights proposed a free mobile ecosystem.
Considering all the aspects, the U.S. Copyright Office has ruled that jailbreaking of smartphone as legal. But, doing the same in tablets or gaming consoles are illegal. Copying DVDs for personal use is also deemed illegal.
The new rules will be effective from October 28, 2012.
Source: Library of Congress
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