• Home
  • The Tech Tin About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy

The Tech Tin

The Best In Tech

  • New Technology
  • Cool Gadgets
  • Latest Tech & Gadgets
  • Tech & Gadget Reviews
  • Tech & Gadget News
  • Gadgets Shop

GitHub Removes ‘Chimera13’ iOS Jailbreak After DMCA Notice from ‘Unc0ver’

Leave a Comment

unc0verApple’s iOS devices are part of a closed ecosystem that doesn’t allow much tinkering and keeps unvetted apps out.

This works well for the vast majority of people but for those who demand more, jailbreaking is always an option.

While Apple doesn’t like the fact that outsiders are circumventing their restrictions to open up access, it generally turns a blind eye to jailbreaks. The company patches leaks but since the DMCA offers a jailbreak exemption, taking legal action is not the obvious response.

Unc0ver vs. Chimera13

In this light, it’s interesting to see that several copies of the Chimera13 jailbreak were taken down by GitHub this week, through a DMCA notice. This request didn’t come from Apple, however, but from the Unc0ver team, which is behind another iOS jailbreak.

The Unc0ver team accuses third-party developers of pirating their jailbreak code. The DMCA notice points a finger at a specific target, developer Coolstar, who allegedly “stole” Unc0ver’s code to use it as part of the Swift-based Chimera13 jailbreak.

“He was able to obtain a leaked copy of our private unc0ver repository that was previously available at [private] for selected team members of the Unc0ver Team,” the DMCA notice explains.

“We have investigated this user and found that their first appearance on the r/Jailbreak Discord Server, where they later announced that they had obtained the source code, was approximately a day after the infringer had publicly indicated that he was able to obtain information about our work on Twitter,” the Unc0ver team adds.

GitHub Takes Down Chimera13 Repositories

The DMCA notice asks GitHub to remove the Chimera13 repository as well as dozens of forks. And indeed, the official repository and the forks are all unavailable now.

Chimera13 removed DMCA

The takedown request is interesting for several reasons. First of all, a team behind an application that is exempted from copyright infringement claims under the DMCA is using the same law to go after another jailbreak app. In addition, the claim itself isn’t without controversy either.

Read  Anti-Piracy Outfit Hires VPN Expert to Help Track Down The Pirate Bay

Coolstar Sends a Counter-Notice

Chimera13 developer Coolstar, who’s a former computer science student at UC Santa Barbara, argues that the takedown notice is unwarranted. He sent a counter-notice to GitHub, asking the company to reinstate his repository.

“The code for Chimera13 is original code that I have written in Swift that relies primarily on the public techniques,” Coolstar writes, pointing out the various pieces of open source and publicly available code that’s included.

“The only 3rd-party code in this repository is Jake James’ time_waste exploit. However, this is under an open source license (GPL),” he adds, highlighting the license in question.

According to Coolstar, the original notice was sent in bad faith. He further accuses the sender of committing perjury and abusing the DMCA process, a claim he repeats on Twitter.

Without making any judgments on the claims from both sides, it is clear that this is more than just a regular DMCA request. It appears to be part of an ongoing feud between two camps, which both develop jailbreak solutions.

In any case, it will be interesting to see how GitHub responds to the counter-notice. According to the regular DMCA process, the Chimera13 repository will be reinstated within two weeks, unless the Unc0ver team takes the matter to court.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Record Labels Deny That Piracy Notices Were ‘Deceptive and Fraudulent’ Threats Removing “Annoying” Windows 10 Features is a DMCA Violation, Microsoft Says Nintendo: Soldering a Modchip into a Switch Console Breaches the DMCA New York Times Selectively Cracks Down on ‘Copyright Infringing’ Trump Meme

Filed Under: Tech & Gadget News

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get Your Free Flashlight Here
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • US Court: Pirate Streaming Sites Operator Must Pay $16.8m in Damages March 1, 2021
  • ‘US Government Should Protect the Public from Copyright Extremes’ March 1, 2021
  • 8 gadgets to help you travel safe in Covid pandemic – Economic Times February 28, 2021
  • Earn $1 Million by Snitching on Companies that “Copy That Floppy’ February 28, 2021
  • RuTracker Crowdfunding Drive Raises Cash To Seed Old & Rare Files February 28, 2021

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 55 other subscribers


Copyright © 2021 · The-Tech-Tin.Com