Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone, App Store, Jailbreak/pwnage

iPhone developers who already have to fight for app approval, exposure and marketing techniques now have a new hurdle to overcome: instantaneous app-cracking. Although cracking iPhone applications for use on a jailbroken iPhone or iPod touch is not new, the method has never been so easy or so accessible.

Crackulous, an application developed on the Hackulous forums (Hackulous is a community dedicated to cracking iPhone apps; back in my day we called these warez boards), makes it possible to “crack” any purchased App Store application. That app can then be transferred for use on other devices.

Although the larger discussion of intellectual property, DRM, peer-to-peer transfers and what constitutes “piracy” is filled with large gray areas, Crackulous strikes me as about as black and white as you can get. Any way you slice it, this is piracy. This isn’t about fighting DRM or fighting what some see as a draconian application platform, this is theft.

Continue reading Crackulous is released, chaos imminent

Crackulous is released, chaos imminent originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Crackulous is released, chaos imminent originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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