Every three years, the Library of Congress has the thankless task of listening to people complain about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The DMCA forbade most attempts to bypass the digital locks on things like DVDs, music, and computer software, but it also gave the Library the ability to wave its magical copyright wand and make certain DRM cracks legal for three years at a time.This year, the Library provided a shocker, by declaring Apple iOS jailbreaks as “fair use” and not against the DRM policies of Apple. read on for the actual verdict.

The most surprising ruling was on “jailbreaking” one’s phone (exemption number two), replacing the company-provided operating system with a hacked version that has fewer limitations. Make no mistake: this was all about Apple. And Apple lost.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation argued that jailbreaking one’s iPhone should be allowed, even though it required one to bypass some DRM and then to reuse a small bit of Apple’s copyright firmware code. Apple showed up at the hearings to say, in numerous ways, that the idea was terrible, ridiculous, and illegal. In large part, that was because the limit on jailbreaking was needed to preserve Apple’s controlled ecosystem, which the company said was of great value to consumers.

That might be true, the Register agreed, but what did it have to do with copyright?

“Apple is not concerned that the practice of jailbreaking will displace sales of its firmware or of iPhones,” wrote the Register, explaining her thinking by running through the “four factors” of the fair use test. “Indeed, since one cannot engage in that practice unless one has acquired an iPhone, it would be difficult to make that argument. Rather, the harm that Apple fears is harm to its reputation. Apple is concerned that jailbreaking will breach the integrity of the iPhone’s ecosystem. The Register concludes that such alleged adverse effects are not in the nature of the harm that the fourth fair use factor is intended to address.”

And the Register concluded that a jailbroken phone used “fewer than 50 bytes of code out of more than 8 million bytes, or approximately 1/160,000 of the copyrighted work as a whole. Where the alleged infringement consists of the making of an unauthorized derivative work, and the only modifications are so de minimis, the fact that iPhone users are using almost the entire iPhone firmware for the purpose for which it was provided to them by Apple undermines the significance” of Apple’s argument.

The conclusion is sure to irritate Steve Jobs: “On balance, the Register concludes that when one jailbreaks a smartphone in order to make the operating system on that phone interoperable with an independently created application that has not been approved by the maker of the smartphone or the maker of its operating system, the modifications that are made purely for the purpose of such interoperability are fair uses.”

[via Arstechnica]

At long last, the rumored, and much-awaited Magic Trackpad has been released by Apple to enable MacBook-like Multi-Touch functionality to its desktop line. The launch was a quiet launch, as far as Apple goes, just a simple update in its website, along with a refreshed Mac Pro and iMac line.

The company’s new Magic Trackpad is much more accessible at only $69. Billed as the largest of its kind, the multi-touch trackpad looks to be as tall as Apple’s wireless desktop keyboard. No dimensions are provided for what will invariably be referred to as the Magicpad, but it’s bigger than the trackpad on Apple’s MacBook Pro, which measures roughly 3″ x 4″. The Magic Trackpad connects via Bluetooth, so it’s only compatible with newer Macs that support the wireless standard. Apple has also introduced its own AA battery charger to complement the device.

Turning to screens, Apple unveiled a 27″ version of its Cinema Display. The new model slots in between existing 24″ and 30″ models at $999. Users can expect an IPS panel with a 2560×1440 display resolution, plus an integrated webcam, USB hub, microphone, and speakers. Apple won’t be shipping the new display until September.

Early this morning, Apple’s online store went offline for maintenance. It returned with a bounty of new products, including updated iMacs and Mac Pros, a 27″ Cinema Display, and the long-rumored Magic Trackpad.

new iMacs

Rather than revamping their respective enclosures, Apple focused on internal upgrades for its iMac and Mac Pro systems. The refreshed Mac Pros are due to arrive in August and can now play host to as many as two six-core Xeon 5600 series CPUs.

• Quad-core versions of the system based on last-gen Xeons will start at $2499.
• A single-CPU config with a six-core Xeon will also be available, and users will be able to pair a couple of Westmere quads for $3499.
• Expect to drop at least $4999 for a dual six-core Xeons.
• Unlike current Mac Pros, which come with a comically low-rent GeForce GT 120 by default, the new systems will start with a mid-range Radeon HD 5770. Users will be able to add a second 5770 or swap in a 5870, but the spec sheet curiously makes no mention of dual 5870s. The PSU may not have enough grunt to handle such a setup.

On the all-in-one front, the iMac is now available with a selection of Core i3, i5, and i7 CPUs.

• Quad-core processors are limited to the 27″ iMac, which can be configured with Radeon HD 5750 graphics and even an SSD.
• The 21.5″ variant is restricted to dual-core CPUs, but you can at least get a Radeon HD 5670 under the hood. 4GB of memory is standard across all of the new configurations, which start at $1199 and reach all the way up to $1999 for the quad-core 27-incher.

You didn’t expect the latest Macs to be cheap, did you?

Those of you holding out for white iPhone 4s will have to continue your practice in patience: Apple says that they continue to be a challenge to manufacture and won’t be available until later this year. That’s right—no longer will they be available in the second half of July, which was already pushed back from late June when the iPhone 4 originally launched. Apple has pushed the date back again by apparently several months, and is no longer committing to a date.

Apple’s latest statement follows one made one month ago just before the iPhone 4 hit the streets. At that time, Apple said that the white version had “proven more challenging to manufacture than expected,” and were therefore being delayed for at least half a month. Steve Jobs even said during last week’s iPhone 4 press conference, where he discussed the iPhone’s antenna issues, that the white iPhone was still on track to ship at the end of July, so either he was stretching the truth or the latest statement was a last-minute decision.

After the Apple press conference/Phone industry mocking event last week, Apple’s iPhone 4 Case Program has begun in earnest. The program provides a free iPhone 4 case for any user who wants one, in an effort to mitigate the device’s signal loss problem. iPhone 4 owners who have already bought a Bumper from Apple or AT&T can get a refund, while those who haven’t gotten one can choose between a free Bumper or a selection of third-party cases.

For current iPhone 4 users who want a new Bumper or other case, you’ll have to download the iPhone 4 Case Program app from the App Store. When the app launches, you sign in with your Apple ID, and you’ll be presented with a selection of cases to choose from. Currently you can choose either a black Bumper or one of seven cases from InCase, Belkin, Griffin, and Speck.

The app notes that “case availability and selection may change,” and Jobs said during the press conference that there won’t likely be enough Bumpers for everyone who bought an iPhone 4. If you’re having antenna problems in the meantime, though, you’ll have to wait a bit for this current solution—cases ship in 3 to 5 weeks.

If you purchased your Bumper via the online Apple Store, you’ll automatically get a refund. Credit cards will be automatically credited, while those who used gift cards will be mailed a gift card for the refund amount.

If you purchased your Bumper at an Apple retail store using a credit card, Apple says you should get an automatic refund . If you used cash, check or a gift card, you have until September 30 to bring your receipt in for a refund. If you bought one at an AT&T store, you’ll have to fill out and mail in (by September 30) a rebate form to get your refund.

It seems the halo effect of the iPhone is spreading way beyond Apple. After Apple announced record profits earlier this week, its network partner in the iPhone has now announced a 26 percent year on year improvement in profits as well, attributed mostly to the 3.2 million new iPhone 4 connections that it activated.

On Thursday, the carrier reported earnings of $4 billion compared with $3.2 billion in the prior year’s quarter. Sales inched up 0.6 percent to $30.8 billion from a year ago.

The company attributed the surge in earnings to the 3.2 million iPhone activations during the quarter, with around 27 percent of those from customers new to AT&T. Preorders of Apple’s iPhone 4 were 10 times higher the first day than those for the iPhone 3GS a year earlier, AT&T added.

The carrier also saw fewer people exiting its service, with its churn rate shrinking to a record low of 1.29 percent from 1.48 percent a year ago. Overall, it added 1.6 million wireless subscribers during the quarter to reach a total of 90.1 million customers, a 13 percent gain over a year ago.

[via Cnet]

In a move that signals that Apple might not be happy with its current product quality, Apple has now promoted Jeff Williams to Senior VP of Operations; he’ll be working alongside Tim Cook (Apple’s COO, possibly the successor-designate to Steve Jobs) to ensure the company’s products are of the highest quality.

Williams will also keep an eye on the supply chain management side, a critical element in keeping costs low while pushing quality into the stratosphere. As AppleInsider reports, Williams cut his teeth at IBM before moving to Apple, and his expertise in supply chain management shone as he helped get the pieces for the iPod back when it was largely “off the shelf” components — the shelves being mostly located in China. Williams was instrumental in global rollouts of the iPod and, more recently, the launch of the iPhone. We hope his new position will improve Apple’s track record for quality gear.

One of the members of the iPhone Dev Team has managed to unlock his iPhone 4 by a new method to the one shown by Planetbeing last time we reported. This hack by musclenerd, is also rumored to be the second of three possible methods by which an iPhone 4 can be unlocked.

The two iPhone developers have now decided to collaborate on the next version of ultrasn0w unlock tool, released by the iPhone Dev Team. Watch this space for further news on this most anticipated of news.

The simplest solution for iPhone 4 reception or antenna problem is here, and this time its something like a bumper sticker, but only more effective:

No word so far on how useful it is, but you might not want to miss out on this maybe-useful product because it costs five bucks. Give it a try and see how it turns out. Or you can try the free bumper stickers by Apple. Your choice.

Yup, you read that right. Even though the iPhone 4 has been a great hit so far and people are madly in love with its astonishing bright graphics display and facetime feature, there are still some people who simply don’t like their iPhone 4 and are no longer interested in owning it.

The major obvious reason behind this problem would be the iPhone 4 reception issue of course which Apple has terribly failed to handle. More details analysis of the survey would give us more insight about what really is the problem, but so far this is all we can get.

Currently, we have Tecnhologizer’s 500 person survery of iPhone 4 owners who were asked three simple questions. Details given in the chart below:

Thats pretty much self-explanatory. Lets see what Steve Jobs has got in mind to regain the trust of their customers.