Gruber writes:
This is good news, but I don’t think there will be much of a practical effect — just because it’s legal doesn’t mean Apple must support it.
While he’s right about the second part of that statement, the first reads like someone with their head deep in the sand.
The practical effect of this, John, is that Apple can no longer claim that Jailbreaking is Illegal. The last legal foundation that they had to try to outlaw things like Cydia is gone; users are now in the free & clear to run whatever software they want on their iPhones, and Apple can do very little about that. The practical effect is that US citizens who were worried about the legality of the jailbreaking process, from writing bootloaders to distributing apps on Cydia, no longer have a cause for alarm.
And of course, the practical effect is that Apple can no longer cast jailbreakers as thieves who are out to steal Apple’s IP and run amok with it. Even the ruling today declares that using 99% of Apple’s firmware with only a few bytes changes is not enough to justify a DMCA charge, and not good enough reason to allow Apple to willfully continue their walled-garden approach to the iPhone. It is a direct slap in Apple’s face.
No wonder John can’t see it, he’s still stinging from the hit.