Jailbreaking and its Basics

What is Jalibreaking?
Many smartphone, tablet, and game console makers include a layer of Digital Rights Management (DRM) software on their products. This DRM exists either to limit the software you can run on it, or is there for security reasons. Jailbreaking is the process of hacking these devices to bypass DRM restrictions, allowing you to run "unauthorized" software and to make other tweaks to your operating system.



Technically, jailbreaking can be thought of as the process of installing "a modified set of kernel patches (the kernel being the supervisor of the operating system) that allow you to run unsigned code. It also gives you root-level access, which is otherwise unavailable. The term "root" comes from UNIX, where it is the superuser account that has unrestricted rights and permissions to all files. This provides you with added flexibility, but it also has some inherent dangers.
Why to jailbreak your idevice?

One of the main reasons for jailbreaking is to expand the feature set limited by Apple and its App Store while the other is to customize the look of your device.Most jailbreaking tools automatically install Cydia, a native iOS Advanced Packaging Tool(APT) client used for finding and installing software for jailbroken iOS devices. Since software programs available through Cydia are not required to adhere to App Store guidelines, many of them are not typical self-contained apps but instead are extensions and customizations for iOS and other apps.


Why not to jailbreak your Idevice?

Once you do it, you're on your own. You may have voided your warranty, so you can't rely on Apple, AT&T or Verizon,  to fix any problems you encounter. All of the applications that jailbreak your phone are unauthorized and could damage or completely disable your iPhone. Your smartphone could end up as nothing more than a very expensive useless device.


Is jailbreaking legal ?
It depends on who you ask, as far as the US government is concerned, it is legal to jailbreak your smartphone. In 2010, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) recognized the arguments of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF, the international non-profit digital rights advocacy organization) to add phone jailbreaking to a list of exemptions to anti-circumvention provisions. 


On the other hand, Apple and some other companies, continue to plead with regulators to outlaw the practice. The best they can do at this point is tell users that jailbreaking defies their terms of use and voids the warranty. In other words, while you don't risk being arrested just for jailbreaking, don't expect any help from the Apple Store genius when your hacked iPhone has a problem.

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