Apple is pushing ahead with a lawsuit
against Corellium, in what is being labelled as a move to end jailbreaking.
The tech giant began its legal battle in
August, claiming the firm profits from "perfect replicas" of iOS.
Apple has now amended its lawsuit,
alleging copyright infringement.
Corellium's CEO responded in an open
letter, insisting developers and jailbreakers should be "concerned"
by the move.
Jailbreaking is a process by which
Apple's operating systems are modified to remove restrictions and give greater
control to the user.
It also allows users to install apps that
haven't been approved by Apple, and gives the option to customise the interface
in various ways.
Corellium specialises in replicating iOS
software, which it says allows security researchers to discover bugs within the
platform.
However, Apple has accused the firm of
encouraging users to sell any flaws they discover to the open market for the
highest price.
'Deeply disappointing'
Corellium says Apple's allegations are
"deeply disappointing" and a misrepresentation of the jailbreaking
community's goals.
"Corellium's conduct plainly
infringes Apple's copyrights," the tech giant said in a statement.
"It simply copies everything: the code, the graphical user interface, the
icons - all of it, in exacting detail.
"This is not a case in which it is
questionable or unclear whether the defendant reproduced the rights-owner's
works, or more subtly, whether particular portions of the works that the
defendant took are ultimately protected by federal copyright law."
Corellium's chief executive, Amanda
Gorton, issued a statement on Sunday in response to Apple's latest claims of
copyright infringement.
She criticised Apple's targeting of the
jailbreaking community, and suggested the company has failed to acknowledge
that it has directly benefited from users of its platform in the past.
"Apple is asserting that anyone who
provides a tool that allows other people to jailbreak, and anyone who assists
in creating such a tool, is violating the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright
Act)," said Ms Gorton.
"They have directly benefited from
the jailbreak community in a number of ways. Many of the features of iOS
originally appeared as jailbreak tweaks and were copied by Apple."
Apple's latest move comes ahead of the
company's surprise return to the Las Vegas CES technology conference next month
for the first time in decades.
Senior director of privacy Jane Horvath
will discuss privacy issues, regulation and consumer demands, marking Apple's
first appearance at CES since 1992.