Library of Congress Says iPhone Jailbreaking Is Legal
Jailbreaking may no longer be the appropriate term for downloading unapproved but legally acquired applications onto Apple's iPhones, in the wake of new rules announced Monday by the U.S. government. The Library of Congress' Copyright Office, which, every three years, reviews exemptions to the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) prohibiting unauthorized uses of certain products, has issued a new ruling that jailbreaking is legal.
The ruling, which could have a substantial impact on Apple's ability to control what goes onto its devices, says a three-year exemption will be granted to "computer programs that enable wireless telephone handsets to execute software applications, where circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of enabling interoperability of such applications, when they have been lawfully obtained, with computer programs on the telephone handset."
Other Exemptions
The librarian of Congress, on the recommendation of the register of copyrights, announced which classes of work are exempt to the "prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works," as specified in the DMCA.
The specified classes are exempt, and therefore legal, for the next three-year period. In addition to the exemption for jailbreaking, the new rules include audiovisual works in a college or university that are video-clip compilations intended for educational use, computer programs and video games in obsolete formats where circumvention of technical protections is needed for preservation purposes, and computer programs that are protected by obsolete dongles.
In addition, books in the fast-growing e-book category can have their technical protections legally overridden when they prevent either accurate rendering by screen readers or the read-aloud function, both of which might be needed by people with disabilities.
Firmware in telephone handsets can also now legally be broken "when circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of lawfully connecting to a wireless telephone communication network." This exemption could impact the growing...
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Dell Settles SEC Charges of Playing Accounting Games
Dell agreed Thursday to pay $100 million to settle the Securities and Exchange Commission's charge that the computer maker used accounting games to meet earnings targets for years.
The settlement is the largest for accounting or financial disclosure problems since mortgage giant Fannie Mae paid the SEC $400 million in 2006.
The SEC alleges that from 2002 to 2006, Dell met or beat analysts' earnings expectations by not accurately disclosing payments that it received from computer-chip maker Intel not to use chips from Intel's rival Advanced Micro Devices. These payments accounted for 76% of Dell's operating income in early 2007, the SEC says. Dell also covered earnings shortages by dipping into reserves and said the seemingly strong results were due to strong management and operations, the SEC says.
Several current and former Dell executives also settled with the SEC and paid fines. Founder and CEO Michael Dell and former CEO Kevin Rollins each agreed to $4 million fines for allegedly not disclosing important information to investors. Former CFO James Schneider agreed to a $3 million fine and a suspension from acting as an accountant for companies that file to the SEC for five years. Nicholas Dunning, Dell's former regional vice president of finance, agreed to a $50,000 fine. Dunning and another former Dell accounting staff member, Leslie Jackson, agreed to three-year suspensions.
The SEC initially approached Dell in 2005, and in 2007 the company acknowledged accounting errors and restated its financial results from fiscal year 2003 through its first quarter of 2007, Dell spokesman David Frink says.
Dell is "pleased to reach a settlement ... and focus on our customers," Frink says. Michael Dell, in a statement, said, "We are pleased to have resolved this matter." Dunning's lawyer Joseph Warin issued a statement saying that Dunning was happy to put the matter behind him. The...
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Windows Phone 7 Makers Named as MS Touts Reviews
Microsoft, in the unusual position of playing platform catch-up, is trying to get back into the game of mobile devices. This week, the software giant named the handset manufacturers for its upcoming Windows Phone 7 operating system, and has begun highlighting feedback from a technical preview sent to developers.
Greg Sullivan, senior product manager for Microsoft, told news media Wednesday that handsets with Phone 7 will be released from Dell, ASUS, LG Electronics, HTC and Samsung. A launch date for the operating system hasn't been given, except to say it will be later this year.
Prototype Phones, Developer Tools
At least five Phone 7 models from these manufacturers have been rumored, including the Dell Lightning, a slider with a QWERTY keyboard. Microsoft has indicated the new OS will not be exclusive to any manufacturers or carriers.
Microsoft is touting reviews of a technical preview of Phone 7. Time magazine, for instance, predicted back in March that Windows Phone 7 will catapult the company "ahead of Apple, Google, Palm and BlackBerry's maker, RIM." The reasons, the magazine said, include a dedicated search button that provides one-click access to the company's Bing search engine, an integration of the Zune digital media player, an assortment of Xbox Live games, and a set of distinct "hubs" -- at that time, People, Pictures, Music + Video, Games, Office and the App Store -- that aggregate all content and features for each area into one screen.
Other reviewers assessing the recently released technical preview have cited the integration of the platform with other Microsoft products, including Windows Live, Hotmail e-mail, calendaring, SkyDrive cloud storage, and Windows Office applications.
On the official Windows Phone Blog, Microsoft's Terry Myerson wrote Sunday that thousands of prototype phones from ASUS, LG and Samsung are heading toward developers, as are developer tools, to promote third-party...
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Review: Great iPad Games Are Worth the Search
Apple's iPad has only been around since April, but since its release I've drawn two conclusions:
-It's a great machine for playing games.
-Game developers haven't come close to exploiting its potential.
Oh, there's plenty for sale in the iPad version of the App Store. But most of the games -- I'd say 90 percent, and even then I fear I'm being too charitable -- are derivative, one-dimensional bores. Most of the free ones aren't even worth the space on your hard drive or the time it takes to download them.
The chaotic App Store doesn't do much to distinguish good software from bad, unless you count the wisdom-of-the-masses provided by its best-seller lists. And, unlike the iPhone App Store, the iPad version doesn't sort games into categories, so you're out of luck if you want to whittle down the list to say, sports or strategy games.
But there are some gems to be found. My favorites can be divided into three groups:
-High-definition versions of iPhone hits:
One of 2009's finest games was Tiger Style's "Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor," a haunting adventure set in an abandoned mansion. My only complaint was that the iPhone's small screen cramped its gorgeous graphics -- which really come to life in the new "Spider: Bryce Manor HD." Even if you played "Spider" last year, the iPad version is worth a second purchase.
Indeed, the developers of some of the most popular iPhone apps have upgraded them into essential iPad games. You can start an impressive iPad library with Popcap's "Plants vs. Zombies HD," Chillingo's "Angry Birds HD," Gameprom's "Pinball HD," Illusion Labs' "Labyrinth 2 HD" and Firemint's "Flight Control HD."
One more recommendation, although it comes from computers rather than the iPhone: Hemisphere Games' "Osmos HD," in which you play a blob that absorbs other blobs. It's utterly hypnotic.
-Board games:
Even...
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