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Apple: iPhone jailbreaking enables hackers, drug dealers and 'potentially catastrophic' cyberattacks
In light of the Electronic Frontier Foundation's push to make iPhone jailbreaking legal, Apple responded with a bunch of stuff that hopefully sounded good at the time, because it comes off as goofy scaremongering.
Apple's claims? Jailbreaking your iPhone "does violate a license agreement between Apple and the purchaser" and "taking control of the [baseband processor, or BBP] software would be much the equivalent of getting inside the firewall of a corporate computer — to potentially catastrophic result," the company's lengthy response reads.
The results Apple speaks of are laid out in some hypothetical situations: "By hacking the BBP software through a jailbroken phone… a hacker can initiate commands to the cell tower software that may skirt the carrier's rules… a local or international hacker could potentially initiate commands (such as a denial of service attack) that could crash the tower software, rendering the tower entirely inoperable to process calls or transmit data."
Yep, hackers will totally care whether it's legal or not to jailbreak an iPhone. So will drug dealers: "With access to the BBP via jailbreaking, hackers may be able to change the ECID, which in turn can enable phone calls to be made anonymously (this would be desirable to drug dealers, for example) or charges for the calls to be avoided." (Emphasis ours.)
The funniest part of it all is where Apple bullet-points some grievances with having its platform forced into the world of open-source development. The last reads: "Limitation on ability to innovate." It should have an added clarification of "without Apple getting a cut." It's worth mentioning that Apple itself was guilty of limiting innovation earlier this week, when it gave a Google voice app the boot from its store.
So, to review, Apple wants the iPhone to stay a closed system. A legion of innovative developers working in the jailbreak scene want to push the platform to its limit. The nefarious element Apple fears will do what it will no matter the legality of jailbreaking. Apple is confusing the issue here.
As for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, representing attorney Fred von Lohmann thought Apple's claims are silly, according to Wired, after telling regulators that there are probably more than a million jailbroken phones out there:
In an interview Tuesday, he said he suspected those phones have not been used to destroy mobile phone towers. "As far as I know, nothing like that has ever happened," he said.So, where does that leave us? Well, with open-source Android phones looking a lot more attractive for developers who don't want to have to work within the confines of Apple's App Store, that's where.He added that, if Apple's argument was correct, the open-source Android phone from Google on T-Mobile networks would also be a menace to society. "This kind of theoretical threat," von Lohmann said, "is more FUD than truth."
Via Wired
By -F at 5:23 PM ON 07/29/09
Thanks Apple, I could do with a laugh.
My device has been jailbroken since I got it, and I intent to keep it that way.
By Old Man Dotes at 6:09 PM ON 07/29/09
Bullshit, Apple. Bullshit.
By Andres at 6:21 PM ON 07/29/09
Geez... Apple are continuously moving towards the stupidity of Microsoft
By jay trini at 6:54 PM ON 07/29/09
The Man is always tryin' to keep us down with his oppression and stuff. Hey dudes, we got to stick it to the Man. I say we jailbreak all phones everywhere and destroy cell towers with our hackin' and stuff and make anonymous cell calls and stuff and...and...; Hey maybe Apple's looking for some love connection with us..... or maybe they want to crush us into the dust from whence we came.... like the peasants that we are...ha...ha...ha.
Apple stinks!!!
By akito38 at 1:21 AM ON 07/30/09
Most hackers worth a damn won't be caught dead with something made from apple anyway. In truth apple is worried people will be able to load and use their own apps for free which means apple wont be able to get all their money.
Apple is an awful company that sells on nothing but image anyway.
By Jeremy at 1:49 AM ON 07/30/09
Apple is making a serious claim which, if true, could mean a serious menace to society---that is, cellphone towers being rendered inoperable. Because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it could not happen, IF their claim is true. The FCC or somebody should investigate this claim and either verify it or refute it. If the claim has no basis, Apple will be red-faced.
By Jeremy at 1:50 AM ON 07/30/09
Apple is making a serious claim which, if true, could mean a serious menace to society---that is, cellphone towers being rendered inoperable. Because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it could not happen, IF their claim is true. The FCC or somebody should investigate this claim and either verify it or refute it. If the claim has no basis, Apple will be red-faced.
By namelessme at 2:16 AM ON 07/30/09
'Apple is making a serious claim which, if true, could mean a serious menace to society'
Thankfully I am not going to base my behaviour today or tomorrow on the basis of an 'IF'. Hypothetically a meteor can crash into the earth tomorrow and kill us all. We are not using this 'if' to change our behaviour right now then are we? So why should we use any other 'if' to change anything else? I paid 500$ for my phone and will do what I please with it. If I paid 20$ I would still do what I please with it. Point of all this is that socialism is coming to america, and apple doesn't like it, nor does microscum, nor does any other multibillion dollar corporation that makes the bulk of their profits from software peddling. Home brewed software will be the norm soon and no mega-corporation can stop it. I hope they all fold in on themselves and collapse.
By Fatal_Error at 7:00 AM ON 07/30/09
Android FTW, You could give me an Iphone for free and I still wouldnt take the pile of crap.
By Giggity at 11:38 AM ON 07/30/09
Just the fact that all those actions are even possible (skirt carrier rules, dos, free calling, anony calls) seems to me like there are serious flaws in their architecture anyway.
Too much control was given to the phone software and not enough security in tower software.
By kizer at 2:21 PM ON 07/30/09
iPhone is a sweet looking peice of hardware and software and I'm sure I'd be perfectly happy without a Jail broken one. What I don't like is their image of you have to upgrade to get the newer features, which is following exactly what Microsoft did/does and will always do. Software that should of been in the phone from the start is not an upgrade. Its called bug.
My android phone which will never be as slick as an iPhone or as smooth has been hacked even before I bought it. I had all the tools sitting on my PC waiting for it to arrive in the mail. Does it do everything that I want it to? Not 100%, but I haven't seen Google or T-mobile once throw up a red flag to the 100's of thousands of hacked droids because I personally don't think they care one bit. They make their share off the market just the same like Mac does, but I guess the greed level is just done a few notches.
By zosolias at 3:55 PM ON 07/30/09
This is hardly surprising; Apple has always believed in closed architecture. Every product they have every made has been proprietary and closed off in nature.
If you want anything for an apple product, it has to be another apple product.
This is why the PC has always been a much more popular platform. A more open platform (the IBM PC) enalbes competition, which enables prices to drop.
By Sam at 1:27 PM ON 08/03/09
Considering the iPhone 3GS now does not work with the cable Apple provided to display everything from pix to vids on a television I completely understand how much better it is to hack the thing and make it do what has been available since the first gen.
It seems that whenever Apple (or Microsoft) come up with a new version of hardware or software they cheer from the rooftops how many new features we will have but it isn't until later when we learn all the functionality they've taken away from us in the process.
Jailbreak your phone today!
By HotandCold66 at 10:42 PM ON 10/18/09
Apple is just a little baby. there mad cause they can't control everything that make. they should just shut up and go make a crapper phone.
on your cellphone!
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