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Is it morally wrong to 'root' or 'jailbreak' your own electronic devices ?

Maybe I'm just too stupid or lazy to read through all the legal-ese that comes with these devices, so I don't know whether technically a customer is contractually obligated not to do it. But I know that companies try to design their products so that people can't easily "root" or "jailbreak" them, and clever people find ways to do it. Is doing so a theft of intellectual property?

tomhall, 25.01.2012, 12:51
Idea status: completed

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Ed Powell, 27.01.2012, 14:24
This issue is related to the First Sale Doctrine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_sale). Basically, it means you can do whatever you want with a copyrighted work (like a book or the OS of a cell phone) as long as you do not copy it, publish it, or in any other way violate the copyright.

This doctrine is under attack by the MPAA, RIAA, the software industry, and now the government, but it has not yet been systematically dismantled.

The moral question goes back to, "are limits to copyright, like first sale or fair use," justified? Or should copyright be absolute during the copyright period. Obviously I personally support first sale and fair use, but a comment is not the place to lay out a full defense of these principles. If these exceptions to copyright are valid, then of course you can jailbreak your phone. If not, not.
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