Apple may have decided that they’ve had enough with iOS jailbreaking sub-Reddits, so the company could be behind some DMCA notices that were sent against the discussion forum. Various sources claim that Apple has filed these notices, and also point out that some tweets containing relevant encryption keys have also been targeted. It is known that Apple wants to put a stop to the distribution of jailbreaking tools, or even information on how to do it. The company doesn’t want its customers to use their devices in whatever way they want, nor are they willing to accept this practice becoming mainstream again.
As the Reddit community reports, the popular discussion platform has removed numerous threads since yesterday, as Reddit’s legal team is in panic. The various DMCA notices that arrived on the platform’s inbox concern threads that promote the use of Checkra1n and UNc0ver, which allegedly violate Apple’s copyrights. The relevant subreddit “/r/jailbreak” was locked-down by the moderators until the entity behind the DMCA notices is determined, and so Reddit is willing to take no risks here. Possibly, Apple has ordered Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP to act on their behalf as they did on Twitter, but this has not been clarified yet.
However, this is not the time to assume that Apple will go full-on against iOS jailbreakers with DMCA notices. As iOS hacker "axi0mX" stated on Twitter, no one knows what is going on for sure right now, so there’s no reason to ride the panic train just yet. Maybe what happened in the last 48 hours is the result of a random entity sending the notices to Reddit, forcing the legal team to act carefully from now on. Whatever the case, this incident highlights the intrinsic problem of cracking and unlocking the iOS system.
There is no DMCA war against iOS jailbreaking. Period.
Please do not jump to assumptions about what happened during the past 48 hours. Not every take you read on the internet is correct or knows the story. There is no way to take wrong information down or respond to everyone.
— [email protected] (@axi0mX) December 11, 2019
iOS jailbreaking is the practice of unlocking Apple’s operating system and enabling the device to run any application, even pirated ones. Moreover, it enables the owner of the device to change some locked-down system settings, customize the look and feel of the user interface, and generally use their iPads and iPhones in whatever way they want. Apple is not willing to allow the people this freedom by default, so they are leaving them in the risky hands of untrustworthy software sources. Recently, we discussed a fake iOS jailbreak that turns Apple devices into click-fraud machines.
Have you used a jailbreak to unlock your iOS device, or are you keeping it as Apple intended? Let us know where you stand in the comments section down below, or on our socials, on Facebook and Twitter.