I suppose it was only a matter of time before Apple argued that “jailbreaking” your iPhone is illegal (technically, a violation of everyone’s favorite Digital Millenium Copyright Act). Because the process of liberating your iPhone from Apple’s restrictions involves copying and reverse-engineering Apple’s boot-loader software, the company argues that users are violating the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions.

Fortunately, we’ve got some crack techies on the case over at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. They’ve filed paperwork with the U. S. Copyright Office arguing that iPhone users should be granted an exemption from the DMCA because Apple otherwise prevents them from using software from some third parties on the iPhone:

the courts have long recognized that copying software while reverse engineering is a fair use when done for purposes of fostering interoperability with independently created software, a body of law that Apple conveniently fails to mention.

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. I’m just glad that the good folks at EFF are around to fight battles like this one. If you can swing it, maybe you’d like to kick ’em a few bucks.