Apple has already gone ahead and blocked any and all access to the jailbreak website Jailbreakme.com from wifi routers at its retail stores, as has BestBuy. The iPhone maker has also provided a fix for the PDF exploit that made jailbreaking iOS devices such an easy task. But now it seems that an even bigger step has been taken to prevent any jailbreaking for devices still on 4.0.1. UK carrier 3 has put an IP block on the website Jailbreakme.com, making it impossible to do a simple jailbreak using your wireless data connection.

This is slightly disturbing in my opinion. Yes, the site used a very scary exploit to have its way with your device; and such security holes need to be plugged up for good reasons. But this website was made with only good intentions in mind and does not do anything other than add the Cydia app store to your home screen. By blocking a website from iPhone users 3 could be sending a message saying  “we have control over your internet, what we say goes”.

This is essentially web censorship. It may not be on as big of a scale as China’s great Firewall, but it is still something that makes me wonder if it was the right step. Hopefully it won’t lead to a stricter censorship of sites that give tutorials on how to jailbreak or unlock your iDevice. Let me know what you think in the comments.

via The Inquirer