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Australia: 3/23/2014 Android Rooting - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

The document discusses laws around the world governing the legality of "rooting" Android devices. International treaties like the WIPO Copyright Treaty have influenced countries to pass laws against circumventing digital rights management (DRM) technologies. However, many jurisdictions like Europe, India, and Canada recognize exceptions for non-copyright-infringing purposes such as installing alternative operating systems. The legality of rooting in some countries like Australia and Singapore remains unclear without a relevant court ruling.

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29 views1 page

Australia: 3/23/2014 Android Rooting - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

The document discusses laws around the world governing the legality of "rooting" Android devices. International treaties like the WIPO Copyright Treaty have influenced countries to pass laws against circumventing digital rights management (DRM) technologies. However, many jurisdictions like Europe, India, and Canada recognize exceptions for non-copyright-infringing purposes such as installing alternative operating systems. The legality of rooting in some countries like Australia and Singapore remains unclear without a relevant court ruling.

Uploaded by

Dissasekara
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

3/23/2014

Android rooting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

International treaties have influenced the development of laws affecting rooting. The 1996 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty requires nations party to the treaties to enact laws against DRM circumvention. The American implementation is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which includes a process for establishing exemptions for non-copyright-infringing purposes such as rooting. The 2001 European Copyright Directive implemented the treaty in Europe, requiring member states of the European Union to implement legal protections for technological protection measures. The Copyright Directive includes exceptions to allow breaking those measures for non-copyright-infringing purposes, such as to run alternative software,[21] but member states vary on the implementation of the directive.

Australia
In 2010, Electronic Frontiers Australia said that it is unclear whether rooting is legal in Australia, and that anticircumvention laws may apply.[22] These laws were strengthened by the Copyright Amendment Act 2006.

Canada
In November 2012, Canada amended its Copyright Act with new provisions prohibiting tampering with digital locks, with exceptions including software interoperability.[23] Rooting a device to run alternative software is a form of circumventing digital locks for the purpose of software interoperability. There had been several efforts from 2008-2011 to amend the Copyright Act (Bill C-60, Bill C-61, and Bill C-32) to prohibit tampering with digital locks, along with initial proposals for C-11 that were more restrictive,[24] but those bills were set aside. In 2011, Michael Geist, a Canadian copyright scholar, cited iPhone jailbreaking as a noncopyright-related activity that overly-broad Copyright Act amendments could prohibit.[25]

Europe
The Free Software Foundation Europe argues that it is legal to root or flash any device. According to the European Directive 1999/44/CE, replacing the original operating system with another does not void the statutory warranty that covers the hardware of the device for two years unless the seller can prove that the modification caused the defect.[26]

India
India's copyright law permits circumventing DRM for non-copyright-infringing purposes.[27][28] Parliament introduced a bill including this DRM provision in 2010 and passed it in 2012 as Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2012.[29] India is not a signatory to the WIPO Copyright Treaty that requires laws against DRM circumvention, but being listed on the US Special 301 Report "Priority Watch List" applied pressure to develop stricter copyright laws in line with the WIPO treaty.[27][28]

Singapore
Rooting might be legal in Singapore if done to provide interoperability and not circumvent copyright, but that has not been tested in court.[30]

United Kingdom
[Link] 4/8

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