Although this news pertains to the iPhone, the iPad can also be Jailbroken so this law has a major potential impact on the legality of iPad Jailbreaking as well. In fact I would go so far as to say that it’s probably included here.

Every three years the Library of Congress rules on exemptions from a 1998 law that prohibits people from bypassing technical measures like copy-protection on electronic devices that they own. This year they ruled that Jailbreaking your iPhone was perfectly legal because you own the device.

Although this doesn’t stop Apple from being able to continue making it harder for Jailbreakers to unlock the capabilities of their phones, it does make it legal for anyone who can and does Jailbreak! This is a landmark decision in the history of the iPhone Jailbreak.

Owners of the iPhone will be able to break electronic locks on their devices in order to download applications that have not been approved by Apple. The government is making that legal under new rules announced Monday.

The decision to allow the practice commonly known as “jailbreaking” is one of a handful of new exemptions from a federal law that prohibits the circumvention of technical measures that control access to copyrighted works. Every three years, the Library of Congress authorizes such exemptions to ensure that existing law does not prevent non-infringing use of copyrighted material.

Another exemption will allow owners of used cell phones to break access controls on their phones in order to switch wireless carriers.

Jennifer Stisa Granick, EFF’s civil liberties director, said the rules are based on an important principle: Consumers should be allowed to use and modify the devices that they purchase the way they want. “If you bought it, you own it,” she said.

In my opinion it’s about flipping time, these devices and the software on them are our property to do as we please with. If you want to void my warranty, fine do so. But you can’t stop me from doing what I want to something that is my property. It’s a ridiculous argument on Apple’s part to say that it affects device security to any greater degree than if a user chooses not to upgrade to the latest version of the iPhone OS for instance. In fact Jailbroken devices have the potential to be more secure and stable than the OS itself because the community can respond to coding and security problems much faster than Apple which only releases a couple of software updates a year.

The ability to Jailbreak has long been a grey area that we were all treading with light feet. Now that the legality is out in the open, I expect to see a lot more iPhone users beginning to Jailbreak their iPhones. If you’re one of the sites readers who hasn’t dabbled in Jailbreaking your iPhone yet, now is a good time to read up on it!

If you’d like to read more about the history of Jailbreaking and why you’d want to do it, read this post. If you’re interested in the latest Jailbreak news and tips, check out our Jailbreaking and Unlocking section.

If you have any questions at all about Jailbreaking or unlocking, then please ask away in the comments and follow me on Twitter. I’m always happy to interact with Twitter followers about the iPhone and Jailbreak.

HuffingtonPost