Library of Congress Liberates iPhones, E-Books

iPhone and e-Book users may be feeling a bit more liberated this week, following an announcement Monday by the Library of Congress that loosens the Digital Millennium Copyright Act provisions.

Basically, the ruling means folks won't have to fear legal repercussions if they want to disable the software Apple (AAPL) has loaded on their iPhones which is designed to control their ability to run non-Apple sanctioned software. So, for example, games found in other parts of the Internet beyond iTunes that are legally obtained can be loaded onto an iPhone that has undergone such tinkering -- aka, a jailbreak.

And there are plenty of jailbreak services to be found out there which are willing to help users set their iPhones free -- for a price.

Fans of e-books and e-readers will also find something to cheer about in the Library of Congress ruling. If all editions of a particular e-book have access controls that prevent the use of the read-aloud function on the book, or prohibit the electronic text from displaying correctly in a specialized format, users are now allowed to tinker with the copyrighted work without fear of reprisal from the Copyright Office. Hear that Amazon.com (AMZN)?