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"DVD Jon" lets iPhone owners use the iPod and WiFi features before activating the phone

Jon Lech Johansen,  known as "DVD Jon," reportedly cracked the Apple iPhone activation, allowing users to activate the phone without having an AT&T contract.  The crack allows users to use the iPod and Wi-Fi features of the phone, but users cannot make phone calls.

The accomplishment came via a blog post entitled "iPhone Independence Day," which can be found on Johansen's blog.  "I've found a way to activate a brand new unactivated iPhone without giving any of your money or personal information to AT&T," the hacker boasts.  "So sue me," he added.

Johansen's blog has the necessary application and directions posted for users to download and view.  The Windows workaround is a "Phone Activation Server v1.0" patch -- users must have Microsoft .NET 2.0 installed to implement the patch.    

Johansen is best known for cracking the encryption code used on DVDs.

Several other methods of activating the iPhone have also been published on the Internet since the phone's release on Friday, June 29.

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So what do you call it now?
By swtethan on 7/6/2007 2:51:29 AM , Rating: 5
i?




RE: So what do you call it now?
By Jedi2155 on 7/6/07, Rating: -1
RE: So what do you call it now?
By KristopherKubicki (blog) on 7/6/2007 3:06:49 AM , Rating: 2
It's more like iPDA if you don't activate it :-P


RE: So what do you call it now?
By akugami on 7/6/2007 4:09:49 AM , Rating: 2
Get it unlocked to work on any carrier and I'll be seriously tempted. As it is...I'll pass until the second generation iPhone when all the kinks get worked out. There are some intriguing features just like there are some intriguing features on the Zune. But much like the Zune, it ain't there yet.

Or if they get a decent VOIP app and service for the iPhone. I live in Philadelphia with it's citywide WIFI. Get a land line with number forwarding to a VOIP number that's through the citywide WIFI and it could mean talking all day and net browsing on the go without worrying about the phone bill.


RE: So what do you call it now?
By awer26 on 7/6/2007 9:13:51 AM , Rating: 2
The way it is now it will never work on CDMA carriers like Verizon or Sprint, locked or unlocked. The technology is just different.


By masteraleph on 7/6/2007 11:31:00 AM , Rating: 2
It's not physically possible to get it to work on any carrier- Spring and Verizon use a different tech.

It should, however, be unlockable to work with TMobile, if you really wanted that.


RE: So what do you call it now?
By h0kiez on 7/6/2007 8:46:45 AM , Rating: 2
iPhone - phone = i?


RE: So what do you call it now?
By jacarte8 on 7/6/07, Rating: 0
RE: So what do you call it now?
By fenderkb76 on 7/6/2007 5:44:43 PM , Rating: 1
Man, it's people like you that make me hate the Hokies. What in the world does this article have to do with football or the Hokies? However, since you've raised the issue, I hope the Cavaliers cram it down your throat this year. Go Hoos :-)


RE: So what do you call it now?
By Clenathan on 7/6/2007 6:36:42 PM , Rating: 2
/In a southern accent: "God bless America and God bless the Florida Gators."


By Michael Hoffman on 7/7/2007 12:24:18 AM , Rating: 1
Even though I try not to crap the comments in my own articles, I can make an exception for college football talk.

Go Michigan! :P


RE: So what do you call it now?
By jacarte8 on 7/6/2007 8:53:40 AM , Rating: 4
"Was that an attempt at a joke? If so I don't get it."

That's because you're a moron...


By Gul Westfale on 7/6/2007 9:12:45 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
i?


well either that or "ifashionvictim"


By fierydemise on 7/6/2007 9:32:35 AM , Rating: 5
iSpend?


RE: So what do you call it now?
By Fenixgoon on 7/6/2007 11:00:52 AM , Rating: 5
i... dontknow? =)


Let the lawsuits fly...
By DeSade on 7/6/2007 4:23:48 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
"I've found a way to activate a brand new unactivated iPhone without giving any of your money or personal information to AT&T," the hacker boasts. "So sue me,"

You may soon find out that truer words have never been spoken....




RE: Let the lawsuits fly...
By Misty Dingos on 7/6/2007 8:28:19 AM , Rating: 2
And just what the Apple Company sue him for? No really all you lawyers (or those that claim legal knowledge) crawl out from under the collective rocks you rest under. Ooze over to your slime covered keyboards and prepare a missive filled with misbegotten lawspeak. Remember to keep the shades pulled tight as any stray sunlight will burn your pasty white skin. Keep the half thought through legal arguments consistent as you drain another Red Bull. Put a couple of links to legal sites referencing ancient Egyptian law or modern Sudanese law. Then recoil back to your normal formless state under the stones of your sepulcher.


RE: Let the lawsuits fly...
By TomZ on 7/6/2007 9:21:36 AM , Rating: 3
You don't understand lawsuits, do you? There are two kinds of lawsuits, those you think you can win, and those you think you can cause the other guy to have to spend tons of money on lawyers to defend, even if they have no merit.

If you are on the receiving end of the lawsuit (esp. in Federal court), you may have to spend tens of thousands of dollars jut to get to the point of getting a frivolous lawsuit thrown out. If you can afford that, great; otherwise, you're screwed. And the odds of recovering legal fees are pretty slim; you have to prove to a high standard that the lawsuit was frivolous, which the aggressor knows and will be careful to avoid.

It is naive to think you can just thumb your nose at the legal system. You just haven't run across a "legal bully" yet. DVD Jon may be an exception because, IIRC he does not live in the U.S. and lives somewhere in Europe which doesn't extradite to the U.S.


RE: Let the lawsuits fly...
By Misty Dingos on 7/6/2007 1:00:48 PM , Rating: 2
Hey I watch Boston Legal so I know lawsuits.

What I was saying is that Apple is not likely to try and take this guy to court over anything. They might give him hush money to keep his mouth shut but I doubt he would take it.

What is missing is a causitive action. Something Apple can bring into court that says He hurt us and this is how or he broke our contract and this is how. Sure Apple could find some lawyer filled with legaleze and drag him into some court in some land at some time but that kind of corporate venom is best saved for someone who actual hurts the bottom line. Judges and the public have a low tolerance for major corporations squasing the little guy.


RE: Let the lawsuits fly...
By TomZ on 7/6/2007 1:15:45 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
What is missing is a causitive action.

How about DMCA? I think that is exactly the point of DMCA is to give companies that ability.


RE: Let the lawsuits fly...
By Misty Dingos on 7/6/2007 4:30:46 PM , Rating: 2
Alright the DMCA. I still don't see how it would apply. Let me use an example.

John Doe purchases an IPhone from an Apple store in Spokane Washington. He doesn't activate it but he does apply the hack described here. He now has a very expensive PDA and MP3 player and he can use the browser function if he is near a WiFi hot spot. While I believe that his use of the device is not very smart. I don't see where he has broken a law. Once you purchase something it is yours to use as you see fit. Perhaps in this example John Doe does not want the cell phone contract but does have a desire for the other functions of the IPhone.

At least in the US I do not think a crime or causative action has taken place.


RE: Let the lawsuits fly...
By TomZ on 7/6/2007 5:09:13 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Alright the DMCA. I still don't see how it would apply.

It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services that are used to circumvent measures that control access to copyrighted works (commonly known as DRM) and criminalizes the act of circumventing an access control , even when there is no infringement of copyright itself
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMCA

I'm not an attorney, but if I read that and interpret it at its face value, hacking of the sort described here would violate DMCA.


RE: Let the lawsuits fly...
By kenji4life on 7/6/2007 1:03:59 PM , Rating: 3
Anyone who's ever gotten a BS ticket from the local cop has dealt with a legal bully.

I've presented a mean case and the Judge simply told me that he knew I was guilty and that all of my trouble was just an attempt to "skirt" the system with loopholes etc.

This is funny because I thought our courts were based on a system of innocent until proven guilty. I guess the judicial system isn't there to keep the gov't in check after all. "guilty until proven rich enough to hire a good team of lawyers" should be the new saying for america's court system.

just look at OJ, Intel, Bush Administration, Enron, whoever else gets away with rediculous crap. Getting sued? "Just ignore it, Shred everything, Call legal, and deny everything.

If it's not the legal system that's flawed it's the blatant disregard for it.


RE: Let the lawsuits fly...
By kenji4life on 7/6/2007 1:05:59 PM , Rating: 2
I missed an endquote in there.

*"

edit function plz.


RE: Let the lawsuits fly...
By kaborka on 7/7/2007 11:53:26 AM , Rating: 2
That judge's remark in itself would be grounds for appeal, if you wanted to pursue it. An appeals judge should have p0wned his *ss. Of course, it would be a major time sink, but vindication would've been sweet.


RE: Let the lawsuits fly...
By mindless1 on 7/6/2007 10:23:05 PM , Rating: 2
You are ignoring the 2nd option, some people don't play the "your screwed" game, will take the law into their own hands. This is after the two things you quickly dismiss, could still come to pass and end the whole affair. It is not necessarily true that a case has to cost tens of thousands, and not necessarily true that recovering legal fees isn't possible, if the case really had no merit. If it did have merit, then the focus is in an entirely different direction, that one makes their choices in life and recognizes the (financial) consequences.

It is arbitrary for you to think in alternatives like either thumbing your nose at the legal system or not having come across a "legal bully" yet. Maybe that's the only option you see but that would mean you are the one with limited vision. There's more to justice that what TomZ likes to enumerate to suit his argument.


RE: Let the lawsuits fly...
By TomZ on 7/6/07, Rating: 0
iPDA
By InternetGeek on 7/6/2007 3:12:35 AM , Rating: 2
I agree. Without a contract it's a PDA. But that's the whole point. Having a phone contract or not is no reason for not being able to use all other features of the phone.

Under the current rationale it would be possible for Phone companies to limit your access to your own phone directory or other information should you default your payments.




RE: iPDA
By Samus on 7/6/2007 3:26:58 AM , Rating: 2
I think the idea is to activate it on another GSM carrier. That way you could get a way better package with a cheaper data & text message plan. T-mobile offered an unlimited data plan with 3000 anytime minutes and unlimited text messages for 70 bucks a month.

That's half of AT&T's closest equivilent plan.


RE: iPDA
By Johnmcl7 on 7/6/2007 5:29:31 AM , Rating: 2
Yep, that's what I think is expected next - from what I've read of US reviews, the AT&T service isn't great. I live in the UK so have no idea what actual situation is with networks.

I would assume there is something in place to prevent this happening though, in the UK the networks share a blacklist - if a phone is stolen then the IMEI (the phone's serial number) is blocked from being able to log onto any of the UK networks. However, I think it will still work on other non-UK networks plus I think networks can only add a phone to their own blacklist for non-payment, not any of the other UK networks. Surely they wouldn't be assuming the system couldn't be broken?

John


RE: iPDA
By Spivonious on 7/6/2007 9:45:39 AM , Rating: 3
AT&T service is great where I live. I think it all depends on your location. There is no one service that's great everywhere.

Or if you meant the customer service, then there are no good ones.


RE: iPDA
By kextyn on 7/6/2007 9:01:57 AM , Rating: 2
Please tell me where you see this plan from TMobile offering 3000 anytime minutes, unlimited text msgs, and unlimited data for $70. I can't find anything even close to that, but would love to have it.

Right now I'm paying $40 for 600 anytime minutes, $30 for unlimited data, and $50 for 400 text msgs. I don't see any way of going cheaper and getting more minutes.


RE: iPDA
By Lakku on 7/6/2007 9:37:53 AM , Rating: 2
50 dollars for 400 text messages? Is that from T-Mobile? If so, you don't have T-Mobile or you are getting ripped. I pay 4.99 a month extra for 400 messages from T-Mobile, and that is any kind of message; text, pic, video etc. 1000 messages is 9.99 and unlimited is 14.99. I don't know all of their data plans, but they offer data plans for around 20 or so for unlimited data I believe. You should check up on that.


RE: iPDA
By kenji4life on 7/6/2007 12:55:16 PM , Rating: 2
I was paying 4.99 a month for tzones and using a proxy server to get full unlimited data on my MDA for that 4.99
no wonder tmobile quickly discod the MDA. it was too 'hackable'

i'm willing to bet money the new 'mda' will be hacked just as quickly. it's simply another tmobile reflash of a newer device.

I miss my MDA dearly. and I kind of miss Tmobile because the prices were amazing compared to verizon

it's really quite rediculous that I can pay 25 dollars a month for 6 months of FIOS internet (40 a month afterwards)
that gets me an unlimited 5mbit/2mbit connection.

on my cell phone, a family plan for 4 costs 90-150 dollars and that's just for your basic package. to get internet on all 4 of those phones, it's between 5 a month + data charges per phone to something like 40 a month for each phone

this really makes me want to setup my own gd cell tower. these phuxing companies are ripping us a new asshole.

In Japan, you can get a rediculously nice cellphone free with plan (like a sony ericsson toshiba hitachi etc). They generally include at least a 2 mp camera, basic internet (data charges), basic pda functions etc. for less than 200 bucks you can upgrade to the latest and greatest.

here if you have 600 + another 90 bucks a month, you can get the "latest and greatest" apple crap.

and all you need to do is sign a 2 year contract (eg sell soul to devil)

Gotta love it.


Contract termination fee...
By croc on 7/7/2007 4:13:55 AM , Rating: 2
In AUS we have MNP. (Uh, for you Yanks, that's mobile number portability) A carrier is obligated to port over a sim card within 24 hrs. or face a large fine.

OK, the US is not AUS, (or the EU for that matter, or Japan, HK, Singapore or China) but there is an early termination fee associated with your contract. Yeah?

So I am waiting to see (after paying that fee) what hoops have to be jumped through to connect to another carrier.

I can't believe that your 'Free Trade Commission' allowed this.




RE: Contract termination fee...
By TomZ on 7/7/2007 10:52:29 AM , Rating: 2
AFAIK, the iPhone hardware/software is not compatible with other carriers, generally speaking, so hardware portability is not very feasible. We do have mobile number portability, but that just gives us literally the ability to take our number to another provider, and does nothing to ensure hardware compatibility. We have a number of different cell phone technologies/standards in use in the U.S., and so the cell phone and network have to be compatible in that respect.


RE: Contract termination fee...
By croc on 7/8/2007 5:05:12 AM , Rating: 2
"AFAIK, the iPhone hardware/software is not compatible with other carriers, generally speaking, so hardware portability is not very feasible. We do have mobile number portability, but that just gives us literally the ability to take our number to another provider, and does nothing to ensure hardware compatibility. We have a number of different cell phone technologies/standards in use in the U.S., and so the cell phone and network have to be compatible in that respect. "

This phone, albeit a 2.5 g phone, still has to qualify with the 3gpp standards to be certified as a GSM phone. It is either a GSM certified phone or it is not. According to what I can find, Apple is claiming that it is. Therefore it is capable of running on any other GSM network. Technically, no user is thus 'stuck' with AT&T's service. AT&T can make the disconnect fees so onerous that it would not be fun, but this goes back to my original question: What would the user have to do to accomplish this, as the sim card (which is as replaceable as the battery) would need to be replaced? Is this phone also imei locked to the carrier? That would entail some manipulation of the international mobile equipment identy database. Who'd pay?

I see lawyers circling....


RE: Contract termination fee...
By jtesoro on 7/8/2007 9:48:42 AM , Rating: 2
As mentioned previously, some of the other big US carriers don't use GSM. So yes, the iPhone is a GSM phone. And that's why it won't run on Verizon or Sprint's CDMA network.


Great Start
By nismotigerwvu on 7/6/2007 11:35:49 AM , Rating: 2
Now lets get this thing working on my SERO plan and I might think about it.

/Yes, I fully understand that due to technical differences this will never work on sprint.
//I Still can dream right.
///Wait this isn't Fark.com




RE: Great Start
By abhaxus on 7/6/2007 2:51:39 PM , Rating: 2
very true... too bad it will never work on sprint :( i love my sero plan.


iPhone Root Password Hacked
By TomZ on 7/6/2007 9:11:13 AM , Rating: 2
Not sure if you guys have come across this yet:

We managed to obtain and crack the hashs of the user passwords for the iPhone OS.

The password for root is "alpine"
The "mobile" user accounts password is "dottie"

http://www.hackint0sh.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1...

Is it sick to have root pasword to all iPhones worldwide? Well not really, there is no terminal yet to login :P




By kilkennycat on 7/6/2007 1:03:50 PM , Rating: 2
... now that its non-phone features can be enabled by a hack.

Way to go, Jon "and friends"......NOT !!




iDidit!
By RaisedinUS on 7/6/2007 10:44:25 PM , Rating: 2
His first words were "iDidit!"




"Spreading the rumors, it's very easy because the people who write about Apple want that story, and you can claim its credible because you spoke to someone at Apple." -- Investment guru Jim Cramer









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