Reverse Engineering, DCMA and the iPhone

Via ComputerWorld -

Scientists are reverse engineering the galaxy. So why is it illegal to reverse engineer a DVD player or the iPhone?

Even the debate pitting creationism against evolution never raises the argument that the galaxy is a secret that ought not be explored. Both sides cite science that looks at our galaxy’s present, weigh recorded history against empirical data, and hypothesise about our origins.

So how is it that the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) — an odious piece of lobbyist-written legislation if there ever was one — can make a crime out of reverse engineering? The DMCA circumvents laws governing copyright, patent, property and free speech by declaring unlawful the most essential right of all: the right to know.

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Knowledge and its pursuit can’t be unlawful. If sharing the knowledge is an unlawful act, then simply knowing violates the law. If the knowledge is unlawful, then the possession of the tools used to obtain it is sufficient probable cause for arrest. We’re not willing to go that far. Are we?

We’ll soon be putting those limits to the test. The iPhone is locked in ways that some people consider contrary to the technology buyer’s interests. It is locked to a specific wireless operator, AT&T.

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AT&T’s contract with Apple apparently stipulates that the iPhone can’t be used in any capacity without activation on AT&T’s service. The iPhone is dead as a doornail until you use iTunes to attach it to a wireless service. Then it unlocks and works as a PDA and media player, and continues to work even if you remove the SIM card. An iPhone without a SIM simply can’t make phone calls or surf the internet for free using AT&T’s service.

So where’s the legal line here? I think we’re going to find out, because I have little doubt that the iPhone will be cracked. What can’t happen is a crack that gets people access to AT&T’s services for free. It won’t happen.

Instead, cracks will be oriented towards giving iPhone owners the freedom to use their devices outside the restrictions placed on them by Apple and AT&T.

Is that illegal? It shouldn’t be. Let’s keep a close watch on the lawyers for these two entities, because the knowledge they choose to declare as contraband will set a precedent all of its own.