# Solved: Jail-breaking an i-device



## christadwani (Dec 6, 2012)

is jail-breaking an iphone/ipod/ipad legal ?
if it is can someone update the ios system to ios 6 in an iphone then downgrade it to ios 5 and jailbreak it ?


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

> is jail-breaking an iphone/ipod/ipad legal ?


Effective today it is not legal in the US. But phone companies and device manufacturers are not likely to go after any individual doing so to his/her own phone. In fact, phone companies will probably help you do it, at least sometimes.


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## Rearden (Jan 15, 2013)

Late last year, The U.S. Copyright Office determined it *is* legal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to jailbreak devices. Doing so likely voids the warranty, but it is legal.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Are you sure, Rearden? I got just the opposite impression from an article I read yesterday and from this article.


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## Rearden (Jan 15, 2013)

That article references unlocking. That's different than jailbreaking. It looks like unlocking will become illegal, but I don't see that it mentions anything about jailbreaking. 

Unlocking allows you to use the phone on a different carrier. Jailbreaking allows you to install software not approved by the OS manufacturer (Google / Android & Apple / iOS).


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Thanks!  Obviously I was confused.


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## Rearden (Jan 15, 2013)

No problem.  The two are often confused. I hadn't heard about the new change in law you linked to. That's really unfortunate for consumers.


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## christadwani (Dec 6, 2012)

ok so it's legal now can someone update the ios system to ios 6 in an iphone then downgrade it to ios 5 and jailbreak it ?


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## matthewdownloads (Dec 28, 2008)

It should be illegal to sell products that are "locked down" so they have to be "jailbroken".

I certainly won't be buying any product that requires me to apply dodgy hacks to get it to work how I like. For that reason I can't really help you because I've never owned an Apple product, and I never will.


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## Barpanda (Jan 3, 2013)

Just for clarification, it is illegal to jailbreak an iPad, it isn't illegal to jailbreak an iPhone. It's legal to unlock devices that aren't under carrier contract, it isn't legal to unlock those that are under contract without the permission of your carrier.


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## Rearden (Jan 15, 2013)

Jailbreaking and unlocking are different things. I don't believe there's any distinction in the law between jailbreaking an iPad versus an iPod versus an iPhone. If you have information indicating otherwise, I'd be interested in reading it.

As an aside, Android devices are also locked down. In the case of those devices, the process to get past those restrictions is called "rooting".


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