New US Rules Allow iPhone 'Jailbreaking'

Owners of the iPhone will be able to break electronic locks on their devices in order to download applications that have not been approved by Apple. The US government is making that legal under new rules announced Monday.

The decision to allow the practice commonly known as "jailbreaking" is one of a handful of new exemptions from a federal law that prohibits the circumvention of technical measures that control access to copyrighted works.

Every three years, the Library of Congress authorises such exemptions to ensure that existing law does not prevent non-infringing use of copyrighted material.

Another exemption will allow owners of used cell phones to break access controls on their phones in order to switch wireless carriers.

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