The EFF wants to make sure that jailbreaking and rooting remain legal

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) announced this week that it has filed a petition with the US Librarian of Congress and the Copyright Office to extend and expand the exemption that makes rooting an Android device or jailbreaking an iOS device possible without violating the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the United States.

Many smartphone and tablet users, whether on the iPhone or Android, prefer to jailbreak or root their devices in order to better customize them. But not all device makers agree with these practices, and jailbreaking and rooting have been frowned upon. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said in a blog post on Thursday that it wants to keep these procedures legal, as “jailbreaking is not a crime.” The EFF this week filed a petition with the Librarian of Congress and Copyright Office “to extend and expand the exemption that allows you to ‘jailbreak’ your phone from those restrictions, without running afoul of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).”