Evad3rs on evasi0n 7: Piracy 'Not Acceptable'

The team that launched evasi0n 7 to jailbreak iOS 7 devices has penned an open letter to address rumors and speculation circulating around the jailbreak community. The main controversy erupted thanks to evasi0n 7 replacing Cydia with the Chinese app store TaiG in China. The store has subsequently been pulled from evasi0n due to allegations of app piracy.

The full letter from the evad3rs explains that a deal was made with TaiG to simply bundle the app store with evasi0n in China. No jailbreak exploits were shared with the company, and as part of the agreement TaiG is contractually bound to not have piracy in their store. Additionally, users in China who jailbreak their devices are not locked into using TaiG if they prefer an alternative like Cydia.

According to the evad3rs, TaiG is "strenuously working to resolve the [app piracy] problem in good faith". In the meantime, the letter addresses other concerns. Some rumors espoused suspicions that evasi0n 7 might not be safe to install, or that malware was somehow involved. From the evad3rs:

Of course, the safety and security of our users is a paramount concern, and due to the amount of close scrutiny by security professionals around the world, we offer one of the lower risk programs available for download on the Internet. We are saddened by the accusations that we would ever do such a thing, or sell weaponized exploits.

While the evasi0n binaries are obfuscated to secure the integrity of the jailbreak and discourage third-party repackaging and weaponization, this process does not prevent security professionals from analyzing the contents of the jailbreak. Each release is picked apart by developers, insuring its safety and helping to improve the jailbreak.

The letter also addresses why evasi0n 7 was released so abruptly. This surprised many in the jailbreak community including Saurik, the creator of Cydia. As a result, Cydia and MobileSubstrate were not even updated for iOS 7 at the time of release. The evad3rs explain this was a race to the finish, as Saurik was reportedly "working with another group to release a jailbreak".

Finally, the evad3rs explain their position on making money for their efforts:

Any jailbreak from us will always be free to the users but we believe we have a right to be compensated in an ethical way, just as any other developer. However, the interests of the community will always be the most important thing to us. When releasing the jailbreak, we pledged all our donations to foundations supporting the interests of the community.

In a nutshell, the evad3rs felt compelled to write the letter because they are "deeply upset" at how they have "inadvertently distressed" the jailbreak community. They explain they are dedicated to making things right, including preventing piracy of the sort discovered in the TaiG app store. Thanks to their efforts, iOS 7 can now be jailbroken untethered across the globe.