In 2010 the U.S. Copyright Office sided with users and developers when it issued a declaration exempting jailbreaking/rooting from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The exemption meant that the jailbreak community could come out into the open without fear of legal action for copyright infringement.
Now, however, the exemption granted by the Copyright Office is set to expire, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation is working to make sure that doesn’t happen. The group has set up a page with information on the situation, and instructions for contacting the U.S. Copyright Office in order to petition that the exemptions be renewed. They also want the exemption expanded to include tablets and video game consoles.
The site does not say when the exemption is set to expire, however the Copyright Office will stop accepting comments on the issue on February 10th at 5 pm Eastern time. So if you have a jailbroken iPhone or iPad, or a rooted Android device, you’ll want to head on over and make your voice heard.
