Evasi0n iOS 7 jailbreak funding supplied by Chinese app piracy site

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Taig, a Chinese company that kicked in a reported $1 million to help Evasi0n develop a jailbreak to exploit and defeat Apple's app security model in iOS 7, has been revealed as significant source of pirated apps in violation of its contract.



In exchange for funding, Evasi0n agreed to bundle Taig's app service for Chinese users as an alternative to Cydia.

However, a report by Chris Ziegler of The Verge noted that Taig "threatened the legitimacy of the entire [Evasi0n] operation after pirated App Store apps were found in its catalog."

Taig has been removed and we want to address some additional concerns put forth by the community: http://t.co/NxPQZnJWVO

— evad3rs (@evad3rs)


In an online statement to the "jailbreak community," Evasi0n wrote: "In the course of developing the iOS 7 jailbreak, we were approached by the company with an offer of partnership in offering Taig bundled with the jailbreak in China."

The group added, "Preventing piracy is also extremely important to us. We are deeply sorry and embarrassed about the piracy that was seen today. All of us have spoken out vehemently against piracy in the past. We don't believe its right for developers to not get paid for their work.

"In our agreement with Taig, we contractually bind them to not have piracy in their store. This was an extremely important precondition of working with them. In entering the agreement with them, we had hoped and continue to hope that our cooperation with Taig will improve the piracy situation in China [...]

"We are very upset that despite our agreement and review by their team, piracy was found in the store. It was not acceptable and they have been strenuously working to resolve the problem in good faith, and have removed all instances of it that we have brought to their attention."

Chinese pirates evade Evasi0n

Evasi0n first said it was working with Taig to get the pirated apps removed, noting that "Taig will be pulled from the jailbreak if it cannot be resolved."

However, the controversy surrounding Taig's unmanageable listings of pirated apps prompted Evasi0n to announce it would remove the Taig store. The group has since determined that "the depth of the transgression against the software developers and the jailbreak community cannot be overlooked and we could not move forward after that even if it were fixed."

Evasi0n described the rollout of the iOS 7 jailbreak as "extremely stressful" and the group said it needed "time to recover" before addressing remaining issues with the jailbreak package.

Jailbreak attempts are a cat and mouse game between hackers and Apple, with jailbreakers seeking to find new security vulnerabilities they can exploit while Apple seeks to close any holes that could be used to bypass iOS app security.

Ostensibly, iOS jailbreaks are intended to allow users to tweak and customize their iOS devices, although in reality one of the primary functions of jailbreaking devices is to enable users to obtain and install developers' App Store titles without paying anything.

After jailbreaking, an iOS device stops enforcing app signatures, effectively giving it the security profile and stability of an unlocked Android phone, and making it roughly as attractive to third party commercial developers.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 137
    quinneyquinney Posts: 2,528member
    If they give back the payment, their protestations will look less like crocodile tears.
  • Reply 2 of 137
    Criminal and unethical behavior can be outlawed but it can never be stopped. Nothing Evaisi0n or Apple does will prevent it in the long run. I'm still glad they try.
  • Reply 3 of 137
    sockrolidsockrolid Posts: 2,789member
    Just a matter of time before Apple kills of jailbreaking once and for all.
    Looking forward to it.
  • Reply 4 of 137
    quinney wrote: »
    If they give back the payment, their protestations will look less like crocodile tears.
    While I don't support the jailbreak, they are within the rights to keep the money if there was a contractural agreement prohibiting pirated apps in Taig.
  • Reply 5 of 137
    Quote:


    in reality one of the primary functions of jailbreaking devices is to enable users to obtain and install developers' App Store titles without paying anything. 


     

    Only it's not, since you've always been able to sideload pirated apps with software like iHelper without jailbreaking. The primary purpose of jailbreaking has, is, and will continue to be for the ability to install software that isn't available through the App Store. Apps like iBlacklist, that allow you to block unlisted/blocked calls, Winterboard for installing custom themes and icons, SBSettings for tweaking the looks and behavior of iOS such as hiding Apple default apps (stocks, Newstand.. looking right at you) that can't be deleted, and MyMod, which unlocks the cellular settings panel so people like me who get service from MVNO's such as Straight Talk can manually adjust certain settings so data and MMS work the way they should, and the way we pay for them to.

     

    People who want to pirate are going to pirate. Jailbreaking has never been an obstacle to this, or even part of the equation. If you're going to comment on an issue, AI, you should probably make sure you're knowledgeable on it first.

  • Reply 6 of 137

    So did the Evasi0n jailbreak also include a backdoor so Taig can compromise IOS systems so they can steal credit card info, logins, etc?  For $ 1,000,000 and a percentage of the money from stealing from IOS users, they can make a nice profit. 

     

    Taig can say all they want, but they are primarily a reseller of cracked and stolen software, but then I guess that's what the jailbreakers are looking for in the first place and Evasi0n is just helping them get their stolen stuff.

     

    Wonder if a creative attorney might sue the Evasi0n people for aiding and encouraging theft?

  • Reply 7 of 137
    The fee should not be returned and does not have to be returned. According to what we read here, the evaders carried out what they agreed to do but Taig did not. Reasonable attempts to resolve the issue were unsuccessful. Taig has no basis for expecting a refund.
  • Reply 8 of 137
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SockRolid View Post



    Just a matter of time before Apple kills of jailbreaking once and for all.

    Looking forward to it.

     

    They said that after iPhone OS 3, iOS 4, 5, 6, and now 7. Every version has been jailbroken, and hopefully the trend will continue.

     

    And why are you "looking forward" for that to change? If you aren't a fan of jailbreaking, don't do it. I'm not a fan of coffee, but that doesn't mean I look forward to all the coffee beans in the world disappearing.

  • Reply 9 of 137
    DED. The Fox News of Jailbreak reporting.
  • Reply 10 of 137
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by old-wiz View Post

     

    So did the Evasi0n jailbreak also include a backdoor so Taig can compromise IOS systems so they can steal credit card info, logins, etc?  For $ 1,000,000 and a percentage of the money from stealing from IOS users, they can make a nice profit. 

     


     

    I certainly hope so. Nothing would make me laugh harder than to see jailbreakers get their data and credit card information stolen. Poetic justice.

  • Reply 11 of 137
    smalmsmalm Posts: 677member

    As evasiOn7 1.0.1 is avialable w/o TaiG since yesterday I'm not sure what this article is about...

  • Reply 12 of 137
    xpadxpad Posts: 46member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Cash907 View Post

     

     

    Only it's not, since you've always been able to sideload pirated apps with software like iHelper without jailbreaking. The primary purpose of jailbreaking has, is, and will continue to be for the ability to install software that isn't available through the App Store.


     

    Only it is. He said "one of the primary", not "the primary". Which is correct, that's what many people jailbreak for.

  • Reply 13 of 137
    xpadxpad Posts: 46member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Cash907 View Post

     

     

    They said that after iPhone OS 3, iOS 4, 5, 6, and now 7. Every version has been jailbroken, and hopefully the trend will continue.

     

    And why are you "looking forward" for that to change? If you aren't a fan of jailbreaking, don't do it. I'm not a fan of coffee, but that doesn't mean I look forward to all the coffee beans in the world disappearing.


     

    Because it's a security issue and muddies the platform. It's a bit like herd immunity, the effects of jailbreaking impact non-jailbreakers more than someone liking coffee around someone who doesn't.

     

    You could just as well say, "why stop piracy? If you don't like it, don't do it". Or, to turn it around, "if you don't like a system designed with sandboxed security and locked to a single App Store, don't use it".

     

    This isn't a law of the land, it's Apple's rules for their own system. I'd agree if someone was talking about removing the ability to side load apps on all computers, but we're not. Not even on all phones.

  • Reply 14 of 137
    davendaven Posts: 696member
    "Evasi0n described the rollout of the iOS 7 jailbreak as "extremely stressful" and the group said it needed "time to recover" before addressing remaining issues with the jailbreak package. "

    Translation... We pushed the jailbreak out quickly before it was tested and need time for the pirate site's check to clear before we address the problems we caused.
  • Reply 15 of 137
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Smallwheels View Post



    Criminal and unethical behavior can be outlawed but it can never be stopped. Nothing Evaisi0n or Apple does will prevent it in the long run. I'm still glad they try.

     

    Then again, if the right people in the PRC government are alerted, these criminals could end up in a prison for the rest of their lives.

  • Reply 16 of 137
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by xPad View Post

     

     

    Only it is. He said "one of the primary", not "the primary". Which is correct, that's what many people jailbreak for.


     

    Only it's not, like I said. Jailbreaking has nothing to do with piracy, despite what Apple says. There's been a massive backlash to this JB because of the link to Chinese piracy, which the boys at Evasi0n faced and then reacted to by severing said link, because the JB community is strongly against piracy since it sends the wrong message to outsiders about jailbreaking in general.

     

    Those who want to pirate will pirate, and they'll do so with software like iHelper, iLoadr, or iModSign... all of which work without Jailbreaking, so in what way shape or form is piracy a "primary" reason for jailbreaking? Purchasing an App from Cydia instead of Apple's own App Store isn't piracy. Period.

  • Reply 17 of 137
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SockRolid View Post



    Just a matter of time before Apple kills of jailbreaking once and for all.

    Looking forward to it.



    I'm definitely for jailbreaking but not for piracy. People should be able to do whatever they want with a device they own. They shouldn't steal apps or other programs and services.

  • Reply 18 of 137
    xpadxpad Posts: 46member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Cash907 View Post

     

     

    Only it's not, like I said. Jailbreaking has nothing to do with piracy, despite what Apple says.


     

    How can you possibly state something so incomprehensibly wrong with a straight face?

     

    True or False: Some people jailbreak in order to install pirated apps.

  • Reply 19 of 137
    poochpooch Posts: 768member
    xpad wrote: »
    Only it is. He said "one of the primary", not "the primary". Which is correct, that's what many people jailbreak for.

    please quote the sources of your statistics supporting your statement "... that's what many people jailbreak for."
  • Reply 20 of 137
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post

     

     

    I certainly hope so. Nothing would make me laugh harder than to see jailbreakers get their data and credit card information stolen. Poetic justice.


    It would certainly be funny! Poetic justice for sure. And then they would try to blame Apple for the problems too.

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