Mozilla is going head to head with Apple over the legally hazy process of an iPhone unlock: it’s just filed papers to support legalising iPhone jailbreaking. All the gory iPhone unlocking details after the break.
Mozilla, the developer behind the Firefox internet browser, has filed papers to the Copyright Office in the US supporting a proposal to make an iPhone unlock legal.
Mozilla is backing a proposal by the Electronic Frontier Foundation to make an exemption to the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act that would allow a legal iPhone unlock, stating that it would promote “open access” to the internet. Presumably, by allowing people to download Firefox Mobile on their unlocked iPhone, of course.
Also standing up in support of a legitimatised iPhone unlock is Skype, which would love to see its VoIP app being used over 3G as well as Wi-Fi.
Apple guards the iPhone software platform jealously, not least because the App Store is proving to be a goldmine, so it’ll be interesting to see its response to an open source heavyweight like Mozilla badgering the US government for a consequence-free iPhone unlock. We’ll keep you posted – this one could get bloody.
Out TBC | £TBC | Mozilla (Via Yahoo)
