Jon Lech Johansen, a hacker who earned the name DVD Jon for unraveling DVD encryption codes a few years ago, now says he has figured out how to activate an iPhone without signing up for an AT&T service plan. The bonus, he says, is that you can still use the device, but you don’t have to hand your personal details over to the carrier (which he refers to as the NSA). The hitch, obviously, is that your iPhone won’t actually be a phone. You’ll still be able to listen to music and access the Internet via WiFi – but why anyone would want to pay $500 for a phone that doesn’t make calls is beyond us. Johansen offers a link to the software patch on his blog, "So sue me."

Note that while this may be a hack in the strict sense, it won't close our PPX proposition, IPHACK, which specifies that the iPhone must be modded to run third-party software in the first two months in order to close out at $100 per share. But this does certainly take us one step closer. IPHACK stocks are currently trading at POP$79.00. Get 'em while they're hot... —Gregory Mone

Via newsfactor.com