[Cialug] OT: Apple iPhone and digital media

[Nathan Stien]

On 1/16/07, Nathan C. Smith <smith at ipmvs.com> wrote:
> If the iPhone is running OSX it will certainly become "open" at some point -
> whether Apple wants it to or not.   People are running linux on iPods now,
> if the iPhone has enough geek appeal it is only a question of time before
> linux is running on it and people find away around the pesky DRM features.

I would love for this to be true, but they won't have made it so easy
as the iPod.  Cingular/AT&T for starters would make sure of that.  The
iPod makes no attempt to lock you out of replacing its firmware, and
that is why it was so easy to get Linux going on it.

For example, Motorola Phones for Verizon have to have hardware
signature checks.  Verizon mandates this so they can be sure that only
trusted code runs on their handsets.  It's one of many, many ways in
which carriers often hobble OEMs when it comes to innovation on
phones.

An immutable ROM startup program performs a cryptographic signature
check on the firmware.  If even one byte of code is out of place, the
signature will break and the ROM will refuse to execute the "hacked"
firmware.  I'm sure they keep that key under armed guard on a
non-networked machine.  I know Microsoft does with their Windows
Update sig keys.

Systems like this are also common on modern game consoles.  In the
case of consoles, it's pretty easy to just open them up and replace or
modify a little hardware ("mod chip") to defeat the signature check
(or whatever other DRM system is in place).  Phones are harder because
they are (1) difficult to open without breaking and (2) so so so so
miniaturized.  The iPod and Motorola RAZR are insanely tight inside.
Not a cubic MM is wasted across the entire device.  There's no room
inside of a RAZR to do aftermarket modification unless you have very
sophisticated tools.

Brief tangent regarding the RAZR:
I worked on a project involving a new type of charger for them, and
despite the fact that the ultimate client was Motorola, we still had
to open one up to defeat the "security" mechanism that makes sure you
have an authorized charger.  Looking inside was humbling -- it was a
work of brilliant art.

All of this aside, security made by humans can be broken by humans,
and the iPhone is a high profile target.  I'm sure lots of hackers the
world over will be sinking their teeth into it, and it may just break
open under the weight of all that scrutiny.  Let's hope so.

- nps

-- 
"Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying
to find easier ways to do something." - Robert A. Heinlein