To jailbreak or not to jailbreak

Tempted to jailbreak your PlayStation 3? Don't: it's illegal unless your PS3 is an iPhone. George Hotz was asking for trouble with Sony: he jailbreaks his PlayStation 3, distributes the hacked code, and makes a how-to video for his disciples. Maybe Curious George was just confused -- as I was -- about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). I figured jailbreaking was jailbreaking was jailbreaking. However, carefully examine the DMCA and you will find jailbreaking a PlayStation 3 is illegal; however, iPhone jailbreaking is outside the DMCA umbrella. Huh. Modifying an iPhone's firmware to run unapproved applications fits under fair use, while doing an almost identical activity on a PS3 is wrong. The difference balances on copyright protection circumvention. Copyright laws are ever changing, though, and it may not be long before Apple finds a way to defend its territory under the DCMA, as Sony has.