Thursday, Feb 19, 2009    Text size: 

Earlier this week, Steve Jobs' empire filed a complaint with the Library of Congress in an effort to hit consumers with fines and possible jail time for circumventing the operating system on their iPhones. The process, also known as "cracking" or "jailbreaking" an iPhone, opens the device up to black-market applications.

Apple's complain came in response to a petition from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to protect consumers' right to tinker with hardware as they see fit.

Now two prominent tech companies have lent their voices to the EFF's cause. The two companies have sent filings to the U.S. Copyright Office in support of the EFF. Apple has argued that each instance of iPhone jailbreaking constitutes a violation of their copyright, punishable under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. Mozilla and Skype have asked for a DMCA exemption for jailbreaking.

Both Mozilla and Skype are outsiders in the iPhone world. Skype lent its support to the EFF to help users add Skype service to their phones, which is apparently unavailable now.

“Copyright law should not interfere with a user using his or her phone to run Skype and enjoy the benefits of low- or no-cost long-distance and international calling,” said a Skype representative.

Mozilla, meanwhile, is working on a mobile web browser called Fennec, which will compete with Apple's Safari on other mobile devices. Mozilla has no plans to bring Firefox to the iPhone because, according to Mozilla CEO John Lilly, it's "not welcome."

Apple has fought against jailbreaking since the release of the iPhone by making it difficult and hazardous to crack the iPhone OS.

According to Apple, cracked iPhones and unauthorized apps befoul the iPhone's "ecosystem," and to be sure, Apple has built a tightly run ship for its users to ride on. One important side-effect of Apple's pristine ecosystem has been the relegation of all adult apps to the iPhone's flourishing black market.

For more information on the EFF, visit EFF.org. In addition, the EFF has set up a website for consumers to follow the case at FreeYourPhone.org.