Hackers vs. hackers. FreeHacks vs. AdHacks vs. PaidHacks. Jeremy covered the state of iPhone piracy yesterday, and while the argument over apps rages, the Jailbreak and potential unlock sitch could become just as confusing. Witness the Dev Team’s Cat. Bag. Mouse. post which warns against using “unofficial” (according to the Dev Team) versions of, er, the unofficial (according to Apple) iPhone jailbreaking QuickPwn:

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT THE UNOFFICIAL QUICKPWN RELEASES IS THAT IF YOU USE THEM, YOU WILL KILL YELLOWSN0W, POSSIBLY FOREVER. That’s because QuickPwn, by its very nature, requires you to already have accepted Apple’s official IPSW, along with its baseband update. If you do that, you will (possibly forever) lose your ability to software-unlock your iPhone 3G.

As to what the Dev Team itself is up to… check out the rest of their post.

Anytime there’s an update — or in this case, even a new beta firmware for developers to test out months ahead of an update — the iPhone Dev Team reminds Jailbreak users, especially those running unlocked using YellowSn0w to stop, breathe, and wait for the “all clear” before updating.

In this case, the Dev Team says:

If you find yourself with access to the 3G IPSW for 3.0 via the iPhone Dev Center program, and you are using yellowsn0w, do not update or restore to that official IPSW. You will lose yellowsn0w and find yourself unable to revert the baseband to get it back.

And for those wondering, yes the 3.0 OS is jailbreakable on all devices. It’s just those using 3G yellowsn0w that have to show some restraint and wait for PwnageTool to create a custom IPSW that avoids the baseband update.

No big surprise they can crack the 3.0 firmware, though Apple might still throw some curves their way in future betas or the final release. We’re guessing the true next step in the cat and mouse game will be iPhone 2,1 hardware, which could prove as tricky, if not trickier, than the iPod touch 2,1 which took quite a while to get to RedSn0w…

(Thanks to everyone that sent this in!)

The illustri-notorious Dev Team has blogged about Jailbreaking iPhone OS 2.2.1, released by Apple earlier this week.

Simple version: You can now Jailbreak, if you haven’t already upgraded to 2.2.1 via iTunes, are using a Mac, aren’t affected by the OS X 10.6 DFU-mode bug, and — if you want to keep using yellowSn0w for unlock — are happy to spin your own custom firmware.

Complex version: involves closing the barn door — see here.

(For community-based jailbreaking advice and support, please check out our Jailbreak Central Forum)

Hopefully an easier solution will surface when the Dev Team has spent more time hacking away at iPhone OS 2.2.1. Until then, the cat and mouse game continues!

So if you don’t live under a rock you would have noticed that Apple released a iPhone/iPhone 3G firmware update this past Tuesday. TiPb then warned all of you jailbreakers/unlockers out there not to proceed with updating your firmware… Judging from the comments, some of you took heed to our warning, while others were not so lucky.

To get a better understanding of what is going on with this latest Apple firmware and why you should not update just yet, be sure to check out the video above from iPhone Dev Team member, musclenerd.

[Via blog.iphone-dev.org]

There is an old saying, a picture is worth a thousand words. This could not be more true than the image above.

If you are currently jailbroken or unlocked, do not update your firmware via iTunes to the latest iPhone firmware, 2.2.1. According to the Dev Team this update will indeed break yellsn0w rendering your unlocked iPhone useless.

So you have been warned, do not update to the latest Apple firmware if you are unlocked or jailbroken. Stay tuned to TiPb for more information, when it becomes available we will be sure to update you.

The iPhone Dev Team is still hard at work on their beta, pre-release version of the yellowsn0w process which runs on Jailbroken iPhone 3G’s to unlock the devices from their carriers. The latest, 0.9.5 is working for some folks right now, but others are still experiencing problems including the inability to make outgoing calls (signal drops off). If you’re trying and failing, be sure to give the Dev Team your feedback.

In addition, the Dev Team is also girding themselves, and their code, to fend off those who violate the yellowsn0w (and pwnage) license and try to make a buck by re-selling the Dev Team’s work to unsuspecting web surfers. Whether you can really go after someone for abusing the license on a unlocking process that is designed to let people abuse the license of locked products shows just how complicated both commercial and non-commercial protectionism and freedom movements have become.

If you’re unlocked, or trying to unlock, let us know how it’s going for you. If you have any opinions on the debate around freeing commercial hardware and commercializing free software, drop us a comment as well!