With the advent of the now world-famous phenomenon called the iPhone, a counter-culture was produced, with intentions of unlocking what the multi-billion dollar company, Apple, has worked to solely possess. In an article on CNN.com entitled, ‘Apple battles ‘jailbreakers’ over iPhone control,’ George Hotz who is an expert hacker of the iPhone by the age of 17 personifies this culture. Over the past 3 generations of the iPhone, Hotz has become an expert at cracking each new version iPhone so that he is able to do things that Apple never intended for the phone. He even has created his own hacker software, Blackra1N that can hack and unlock the iPhone in just two minutes, allowing any person with any server to use the phone. Some believe that it is Apple’s fault for signing a deal with AT&T and making it necessarily impossible for people with other providers to have an iPhone.
Regardless, the issues that arise are numerous. Are companies constantly faced with copyright issues and the protection of their International Property Rights despite its constant monitoring in legislation, due to the huge influx in technological advancement? Are consumers constantly left apart from corporate interests when they intentionally make agreements that guarantee their own profit and force consumers to change as a result (as the Apple and AT&T agreement has done to Verizon, Sprint, and other users)? Should people be held responsible for having the capacity to “jailbreak” these types of programs?
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