Apple drops its lawsuit against maker of iPhone emulation software
Apple has settled its 2019 lawsuit with Corellium, a company that builds virtual iOS devices used by security researchers to find bugs in iPhones and other iOS devices, the Washington Post has reported. The terms of the settlement weren't disclosed, but the agreement comes after Apple suffered a major court loss in the dispute in late 2020.
Corellium's software allows users to run virtual iPhones on a computer browser, giving them deep access to iOS without the need for a physical device. In addition to accusing Corellium of infringing on its copyright, Apple said the company was selling its product indiscriminately, thereby compromising the platform's security.
Specifically, Apple accused the company of selling its products to governments that could have probed its products for flaws. When he was employed by another company, Corellium co-founder David Wang helped the FBI unlock an iPhone used by a terrorist responsible for the San Bernardino attacks.However, a judge dismissed the copyright claims, calling them puzzling, if not disingenuous." He wrote in his ruling that the Court finds that Corellium has met its burden of establishing fair use," adding that its use of iOS in that context was permissible.
Corellium started offering its platform to individual subscribers earlier this year, after previously only making it available to enterprise users. Each request for access is vetted individually so that it won't fall into the wrong hands for malicious purposes, according to the company.
Editor's note: This post originally appeared on Engadget.