The User’s Manifesto: in defense of hacking, modding, and jailbreaking

http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/04/18/the-users-manifesto-in-defense-of-hacking-modding-and-jailbreaking/

Now, this isn’t a license to do whatever you want, to whomever you want, at all times. There are several things that limit your freedom, and it is your responsibility to be aware of them: You may have signed a legally binding contract; the effects of your use may extend beyond what you can reasonably expect to be called your own home or person; there are laws governing certain kinds of use. Essentially, know that your device does not exist in a connective vacuum, and you do not live in a social or legal vacuum.

Let us say that you bought a hammer. The hammer is clearly designed for hitting nails, and it is sold at a hardware store, next to nails. Are you really restricted to using it for hitting nails? Do you need to buy a special license to photograph it, or use it to tenderize meat? Of course not. But if you stand outside hitting a bell with it all day, your neighbors may rightfully complain. And you can’t go around beating people with it, because that’s assault. I really don’t see why a more complicated device, more versatile, sure, but still a piece of hardware bought at a store, should be subject to fundamentally more stringent restrictions. Your use of the tool or device that you bought is limited only by law and your discretion. Acme Hammer company doesn’t get a say in what you do — and for that reason, they are not liable if you do decide to start hammering people.

That said, you may have signed (perhaps without noticing it) a legally binding contract. If you did so, read it. EULAs are meant to be not read, of course, because they are legal language presented to an end user, and the degree to which they are binding is probably going to be a topic for debate for years. Better to be safe: if you can’t read it, research it online and see what the gist is, or call support and ask. If you find that you have a reasonable chance of actually breaking a law and having that illegal act pursued by the company, reflect on that.

But also reflect on the fact that nobody thinks twice about crossing a street at 3AM when there are no cars, because jaywalking laws have no authority when the conditions they are meant to govern are not present. Can we say the same thing of license agreements? We can leave aside the complex philosophical debate that goes along with Law, Justice, and so on — we’re talking about simple cases here. Are you the kind of person who will wait at a “Don’t Walk” sign on an empty street? Then you probably live in Seattle. Also, you’re probably not the jailbreaking type and you’re likely infuriated by what I’ve written so far. At any rate, the most extreme consequence for modding is usually a broken warranty and discontinued support. Oh no!

To illustrate this, here’s the relevant portion of the iPad license agreement:

You may not and you agree not to, or to enable others to, copy (except as expressly permitted by this License), decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, attempt to derive the source code of, decrypt, modify, or create derivative works of the iPad Software or any services provided by the iPad Software, or any part thereof…

…This License is effective until terminated. Your rights under this License will terminate automatically or otherwise cease to be effective without notice from Apple if you fail to comply with any term(s) of this License. Upon the termination of this License, you shall cease all use of the iPad Software

Some will say that because of these you do not “own” the device you bought. But few will say what they mean, viz. that there is in fact no way for you to buy just the Apple hardware — you are actually prohibited from doing so, and are told told to please return the device for a full refund if you do not agree to the EULA for the software. Fortunately, such a flippantly restrictive license is as easy to ignore as it is to create. Make no mistake — such an act is surely “a violation of the rights of Apple.” A violation they will never know about, because there is no way they could ever know. They have as much effective jurisdiction over your home and person as they do over the dark side of the moon. Many EULAs (Sony’s, for example) establish similar unlimited control, which one may (and often will, without knowing) also ignore with impunity as long as the license-granter or other users are not materially effected in any way. It is telling that the punishment for violating the license is effectively voluntary.