Security researchers looking to get on the hood of the technology to improve it received a pleasant victory on Tuesday when a Florida federal judge decided to dismiss Apple’s copyright infringement allegations against the maker of the iPhone’s virtual software.
Last year, Apple filed a process against the Corellium makers, claiming that the software infringed their copyright, and later filed claims for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) violations for good measure. Inside your decision, District Judge Rodney Smith said the software in question was covered for fair use for a variety of reasons, but the DMCA claims will still need to be resolved in court.
Corellium software is used by researchers to create virtual iOS devices to investigate bugs and compare different versions of Apple’s mobile operating system. If a researcher is fiddling with a virtual iPhone and finds that he has locked the device, all he needs to do is restart the simulation instead of spending on a new iPhone.
Judge Smith found that “Apple’s position is cryptic, if not concealed.” He said Corellium was not creating a product to compete with Apple’s and that the software had a genuine intention to improve Apple products for users. Smith was also surprised that Apple tried to acquire Corellium before the end of negotiations. This offered a demonstration of the usefulness of Corellium, and Smith noted that “if Apple had purchased the Corellium Product, the product would have been used internally for testing and validation (that is, to check for any deficiencies in the system and functioning of the devices).” The judge also found that Corellium uses a sufficient verification process for its customers and is therefore not guilty of claims that it sells its software indiscriminately.
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But Apple’s arguments that Corellium violated certain provisions of the DMCA by circumventing security measures will require further judicial review.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It was a fantastic two weeks for Corellium. This legal victory should help remove the cloud over the cybersecurity community that have been nervous about using virtualization software. Besides that, Forbes named Corellium as the best cybersecurity product of the year. And last week, flying under the radar, Corellium founder Chris Wade received a total pardon from President Trump. It is not clear which crime Wade was convicted of committing, but the the White House said that “Wade served two years of probation after pleading guilty to several cyber crimes. Since his conviction, he has shown remorse and sought to make his community a safer place. “