Will the iPhone violate GPL 3?
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Blog: The Free Software Foundation raises the specter that the iPhone's software will violate its new GPL 3 license.
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Hacker Jon Lech Johansen, known widely as &quot;DVD Jon,&quot; has cracked Apple&#39;s iPhone activation, or so he claims, meaning that iPhone buyers will be able to activate and use the new handset without having to commit to an AT&T wireless contract. Johansen announced his feat in a blog post entitled &quot;iPhone Independence Day.&quot;
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Apple updated iTunes to keep users from creating free iPhone ringtones--a workaround has already been posted.
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(InfoWorld) - Less than a week after CEO Steve Jobs said that Apple wouldÂ fight hacksÂ that unlocked the iPhone, the company said any modification, unlocks included, voids the phone's warranty. Saying it had found that many of the unlocking programs "cause irreparable damage to the iPhone's software," Apple spelled out the policy. "Users who make unauthorized modifications to the software on their iPhone violate their iPhone software license agreement and void their warranty," the company said in a statement. "The permanent inability to use an iPhone due to installing software is not covered under the iPhone's warranty." Several unlock hacks are circulating, including the free open-source anySIM unlock created byÂ iPhone Dev Team,Â andÂ iPhoneSIMFree,Â a commercial unlocking program that sells between $45 and $90 online. The unlocks let users insert a SIM card programmed with account data from another mobile provider so the phone can make calls on that carrier's network, rather than solely over AT&T's. Other mods, or modifications, let iPhone owners install their own ring tones -- Apple charges $0.99 on top of the usual $0.99 tune fee for a ring tone -- and add new software to the Apple-approved applications on the device. Apple also said it would issue an iPhone update this week, and hinted -- as expected -- that it will use firmware updates toÂ cripple unauthorized modifications.Â "Apple has discovered that many of the unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs ... will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed," the statement said. The coming update has been no secret. Shortly after Jobs unveiled the new iPod line and announced the $200Â iPhone price dropÂ that angered many early buyers, Apple confirmed that it would update the device to add new features, including the ability to buy tracks from the iTunes music store over Wi-Fi. Not surprisingly, Apple's policy didn't scare off those who have modified their iPhones. On the company's iPhone support forum, a user identified as ansuz07 said, "The percentage of iPhones that have become bricked from hacks is very low. Even those that experienced problems could be fixed by a simple restore. Apple is going to make it sound a lot worse than it actually is since they are the ones who don't want you to do it in the first place." ComputerworldÂ is an InfoWorld affiliate. Â
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Blog: GPLv3, for all its sound and fury, has not had much impact on the industry...yet.  Very few projects have adopted it.  Here's why.
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InfoWorld - The new GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3 is not a fit for Linux because switching would require permission from the kernel&#39;s thousands of de facto owners, a maintainer of the SCSI portion of the kernel said on Thursday. Also, Microsoft released a statement that the company has no GPLv3 obligations.
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SAN JOSE, Calif. - In an apparent about-face, Apple Inc. will allow third-party applications to work directly on the iPhone, chief executive Steve Jobs said in a posting on the company's website yesterday.
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(InfoWorld) - What a world. We have to fight off viruses, zombies, bots, phishing, and on and on. Can you believe how many just plain evil people there are in the world? And what is their point? Simple thievery? To prove they are smarter than the rest of us? And think of all the money that's spent on defending, as best we can, against these miscreants or in cleaning up the mess when they get the better of us? Indeed, what a waste. While viruses have appeared on mobile devices, they are, thankfully, few and far between. Part of the reason for this has been a lack of standardization of software environments on handsets, and part is due to the minimal functionality that is typical on these products. It's hard for the socially challenged to overwrite boot sectors, corrupt data, or otherwise run amok on most cell phones today. Apple's decision to limit local software execution on the iPhone is undoubtedly due, at least in part, to a fundamental fear of hackers. While the Macintosh hasn't been much of a target for the hacker community, the iPhone could be a lot more tempting. There will be far more iPhones than Macs in the world in just a few years. Plus, Apple partner AT&T doesn't need the support headaches that come with having a large number of users jamming its 800 numbers with reports of bizarre symptoms on their iPhones. Regardless, being a Web services guy, I absolutely applaud Apple for moving the Web services art forward a notch or two with a very capable platform that might indeed replace PCs for many of us over the next decade or so. We don't need to run a lot of local code to have a meaningful IT experience while on the go. Of course, the iPhone will be hacked over time, requiring updates and fixes, just as is the case with the PC. There are already reports of hackers working diligently to unlock the phone so that non-AT&T SIM cards can be used, and to avoid cellular activation so that the device would be used only Wi-Fi networks -- with VoFi services, of course. Any programmable device runs this kind of risk, and defending against unauthorized code will remain a challenge for some time to come. Which brings me to a really obscure but very important, shall we say, "opportunity" for hackers. Last year, I wrote about one of the most exciting technology developments in wireless, software-defined radio (SDR). Basically, SDR simplifies radio hardware design by replacing specialized circuitry with software. Among the many benefits of SDR are over-the-air bug fixes, the ability to add new features on demand, and dynamic reprogrammability -- turning, for example, a GSM phone into a CDMA phone or even Wi-Fi or Bluetooth or UWB or whatever on the fly. With so much software at play here, the question has to be asked: Could an SDR get hacked? Suppose someone figures out how to build a virus that quickly spreads to SDR-based handsets, disabling them or using them as jammers or worse? What if those handsets are being used for public-safety applications? This is not to say that hacking is the only vector for wireless disruptions. After all, anyone can use a jammer to disable communications in a local area, and any moron with a reasonable shortwave transmitter can pretend to be an air traffic controller. That fact that we still use an unencrypted, unauthenticated communications protocol for such a critical service boggles my mind. The FCC is rightfully concerned about SDR hacking and has issued new regulations for SDRs that mostly attempt to deal with open source software in SDR applications. There is significant concern that open source software creates specific vulnerabilities that hackers could exploit. I don't think this is very likely for two reasons. First, open source isn't the same as open architectures. Each product vendor would of necessity keep certain elements of their implementation secret, locking out all but the most determined hackers. But secondly, and more importantly, the real issue is how to protect individual phones from ever loading harmful software. We already have pretty good techniques for this from the PC world, and there are many effective approaches to solving this particular security concern. It could even be argued that the technical scrutiny that comes with open source actually enhances security and integrity; the real issue is controlling what software, open source or not, gets onto the mobile device. As I noted in my last column, the big issue with SDR isn't hackers or security: It is the need to lower the power demands of SDR implementations so that they have a prayer of running on batteries. The road to SDR-based handsets isn't at all paved yet, but open source is a relatively minor concern.
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Blog: Group claims it can unbind the iPhone from a specific carrier to "expand the functionality" of the device.
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Backhaul badness 3GSM Much has been written about malware capable of infecting mobile phones, but infected PCs spewing regular malware over 3G connections might be a more serious problem.â¦
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One of the most important recent events in the world of free software has been the release of version 3 of the GNU GPL.  There were fierce arguments about its utility while it was being drawn up, and although the rhetoric has abated somewhat, there is still a big question mark over its eventual success.  Some evidence suggests that GPLv3 uptake is coming along nicely, while other reports indicate a reluctance to adopt it (but note also Matt Asay's neat reconciliation of these contradictory messages).  To see what's likely to happen in the long term, it's useful to look back at the past history of licence adoption.
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Late yesterday afternoon, Apple Computer issued a single-paragraph statement reminding its iPhone users that their warranties would not be able to cover damages to their phones caused by the use of unlocking utilities. The company used a carrot and stick approach, reminding users that an iTunes Music Store update was on the way, but that attempting to install it on a cracked phone could render it useless.
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(InfoWorld) - Two claims of unlocking Apple's iPhone have surfaced in recent days, and a third is set to be announced Saturday. One blogger, George Hotz, on Friday posted a step-by-step tutorial for unlocking the iPhone that involves both hardware and software modifications. His blog also includes photos of an iPhone he said is unlocked and shows T-Mobile as the service provider. At another site, iPhoneSimFree.com, a company claims it can unlock iPhones through software only. A screen image with an item about the company on Engadget.com also shows an iPhone displaying the T-Mobile name. In addition, John McLaughlin, founder of Uniquephones, said his Belfast, U.K., company will be posting software on Saturday that iPhone users can download to unlock their handsets to work with any SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card on any network they choose. The software should hit the Web at www.iphoneunlocking.com between noon and 2 p.m. Eastern Time, he said. The iPhone is based on GSM, the most widely used cellular technology, but today, the hot phone is sold only in the U.S. and locked into AT&T's network. Unlocking would allow iPhone owners to break the required two-year contract with AT&T and choose their own GSM carriers. More importantly, it would allow people outside the U.S. to own and use the highly prized device. With an unlocked GSM phone, it's possible to change carriers by putting in a different SIM card. Uniquephones' McLaughlin said 450,000 users already had signed up at iphoneunlocking.com, which the company set up soon after the iPhone was released for people interested in having their iPhones unlocked. The Web site was not active at the time this story was written, but it should be reactivated Saturday with options for users to access the unlocking software, he said. McLaughlin plans to charge between $25 and $50 for the software, but users who had already signed up will have access to the code at either a 25 percent or 50 percent discount. Uniquephones will let people anywhere in the world download the software. The company already unlocks phones from many manufacturers, including Nokia and Motorola. There were about eight locks that Uniquephones engineers had to break in the iPhone software to come up with the code that will unlock the phones, and engineers in several countries had been working around the clock since the phone's release to do so. McLaughlin declined to go into great detail but said one of the most difficult locks to break was contained in the handset's electrically erasable programmable read-only memory. There also was a lock in the handset's permanent phone memory as well as other places in the iPhone's software. In the end, it was an engineer in Russia who came up with the software for unlocking the phone, McLaughlin said. McLaughlin claims he is using his iPhone on the Vodafone network in the U.K. He added that both Vodafone's network and the T-Mobile U.K. network allow iPhone users to download data faster on their iPhones than AT&T Wireless's network does. Although almost 100 percent of the iPhone's features work even when the handset is unlocked and using another carrier's SIM card, the Visual Voicemail feature will only work on AT&T's network because of the way the feature is designed, McLaughlin said. Visual Voicemail lets users easily view the messages that have been left for them. The iPhone has been a hot target for unlocking since its June 29 launch, both because of its advanced design and features and because AT&T has an unusual long-term exclusive relationship with Apple. It's common for U.S. mobile operators to lock the phones they sell, but in some cases, they will later unlock the phones free or for a small fee. On its site, iPhoneSimFree.com says it will start selling individual per-unit licenses for its unlocking software starting next week. The company will also accept inquiries for bulk purchases of 500 or more licenses. Hotz, who wrote that he is soon heading off to college, isn't offering to sell his technique but is auctioning on eBay what he claims is the world's second unlocked iPhone.
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(InfoWorld) - The phone many exhibitors and attendees are talking about won't even be on display at next week's 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, the year's largest mobile industry exhibition. Software and phone developers are comparing the products they'll exhibit at the conference toÂ the iPhone, even though Apple Inc. won't be at 3GSM and the iPhone isn't available yet. Funambol Inc. plans to show off its Linux-based applications, including mobile e-mail, as an open alternative to Apple's phone, which is based on proprietary software. One handset maker, Neonode AB, says that the iPhone follows its design lead. Neonode introduced a buttonless, fully touchscreen phone in 2004 and plans to announce a new one at 3GSM. A Nokia Corp. marketing executive will sit on a panel at the conference entitled "Mobile Music: The Apple Factor." The panel could touch on the competition the iPhone will present to manufacturers such as Nokia and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB that are already selling phones that include music players. The references to the iPhone hint at the threat it poses to existing phone makers. "Because the iPod has been so successful, it's difficult to discount the carry-through success that Apple could have in the mobile arena," said Nick McQuire, an analyst with the Yankee Group. Apple announced earlier this year that the iPhone, its highly anticipated combined music player and mobile phone, will go on sale in the U.S. in June and should reach European markets in the fourth quarter. While the threat of the iPhone might loom in the background at 3GSM, Apple's arch-rival, Microsoft Corp., may plan on trying to steal center stage. Microsoft is scheduled to make an announcement Monday and some experts suspect the software giant will introduce a new version of Windows Mobile. "It's likely they'll make some form of announcement around the next iteration of Windows Mobile 5.0. The question is when it will be ready to be shipped," McQuire said. In April last year, Microsoft said it was working on the successor toÂ Windows Mobile 5.0, code-named Crossbow. Microsoft said then that the new release would include strong links to Office 2007 and Exchange 12 and an instant messaging feature. Unconfirmed reports online suggested the operating system would be introduced either late last year or early 2007. Crossbow could also feature support for VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol), although Microsoft would be unlikely to highlight that feature because some operators discourage mobile VOIP, McQuire said. Phone makers that use software from Symbian Ltd. and Research In Motion Ltd. could react to a new Windows Mobile release by highlighting their broad device portfolios, McQuire said. Operating systems like Symbian, which can enable interoperability with Microsoft back-end programs, have an advantage over Windows Mobile because they run on a wider variety of phones, he said. New handsets introduced at the conference will likely fall into two primary categories: HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) and enterprise devices, McQuire said. The HSDPA phones will be thin and have good battery life, an improvement over first generation 3G phones that were "clunky," he said. High Tech Computer Corp., Toshiba Corp. and Nokia may all introduce new handsets aimed at business users. With the increased use of phones by business users to access corporate data comes concern over security. A number of companies including Spansion Inc., Discretix Ltd., AdaptiveMobile Ltd., McAfee Inc. and Trend Micro Inc. all plan to highlight mobile security issues and products. In addition, more and more phones come with support for Wi-Fi, enabling services that can roam between mobile and Wi-Fi networks. A number of companies plan to introduce or exhibit products that support some facet of a converged Wi-Fi and mobile service. Boingo Wireless Inc. will introduce software for developers that will enable use of its Wi-Fi roaming network from Symbian and Linux phones. Kineto Wireless Inc. will also exhibit at the conference and Shanghai company E28 Ltd. plans to introduce its second generation of dual-mode Linux-based phones.
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The U.S. Copyright Office says it should be legal for you to crack lockout codes that keep you from porting your cell-phone to another carrier. And retro-gamers will be able to crack copy protection on abandoned titles -- for "archival" purposes. In Gear Factor.
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Apple has released an update to iTunes that blocks users from creating free custom ringtones and then syncing them to an iPhone. Despite Apple&#8217;s best efforts to thwart users, a workaround has already been found and posted to the Internet.
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According to Saul Hansell at the NY Times, Apple intends to break phones that have been unlocked.  But Francine Hardaway and Patrick Scoble both updated this afternoon, and bad things happened. Hardaway's phone was "fried," she needed a new phone, and Scoble lost all his data. Hardaway: "Trust me, I didn't hack it." Jeff Clavier: "This effing piece of s..t is bricked." Robert Scoble, Patrick's dad, updated successfully, and got the new features. Spaley's iPhone is "a useless piece of crap." Looks like Josh Bancroft's iPhone was hosed too. I would hold off on the update until we find out what's going wrong.  Sugar Attack: "It wasn't until I saw a friend tweet about the new iPhone firmware upgrade that I realized I could now access the iTunes WiFi store."