Unlock thread followup

[oops_unlock]

Sorry for replying on the locked thread, but I think the issues were presented a bit too simplified.

Problem is, in the fine print of a normal agreement it would say that the phone is exclusively intenden for use on the O2 network during the contract

Any hacking on your part violates something O2 owns: either it is the copyrights on the ROM, or it is the right to unlock it with the code. Therefor, running it over with your car would be OK to them (you're not going to use it on another network), and tempering with codes and ROMs by your own isn't. That is still exclusive property of O2. People have been convicted for this in the Netherlands (Euro 5000,-, and 2 years probation).


There can always be discussion on wether things fall within legal contracts, bounds etc. However, once you buy the phone it is yours. O2 does not own it any longer. Tampering with the ROM is also not the problem. With all these things the problem is what you do with it. Reading codes from the ROM is no violation of copyright, reverse engineering neither. It might be if you start selling your own phones based off of it.

In the case of the XDA, the locking code is available unencrypted in the ROM and can be read with a command that was supplied by the XDA itself. There is no protection that you break. There is no algorithm that has been broken.

Again it is what you do with the capability. If you use a tool and go out charging people money for it you may cross legal boundaries. If you exchange copyrighted material to achieve it, you certainly will cross legal boundaries. I'm not sure what the conviction is that is referred to, but if it is the case I know, the actual conviction was for the fact that this person was selling copyrighted material (modified ROMs) not for unlocking itself.

The unlock tool is available free of charge and for personal use. There has been sufficient legal research to be assured that this is not illegal. (at least in the Netherlands).

[JvanEkris]

Buying something does not mean you own it completely :( By buying the XDA, you don't own every right on the product, just the right to own the physical product and to use it. You don't own the intellectual property rights that protect it. If you run it over by a tank, it's OK. You only hurt yourself. If you do things to the ROM, it's a totaly different story: it is not yours, even if you physically own the chip that it is on.

The case you refer to was the modification based on the sale of modified phones BEFORE the contract was signed. This means that the contractual agreements were not in place at the moment of the modification. This is dubieus to say the least (because no legal seller would let you modify a product before you bought it). It was a trial-process to see how far prosecution went soly based on copyrights without contractual constraints.

Last time i read the contracts however, they are more restrictive than just the copyrights. It is a clear violation of the contractual requirement that the XDA may not be used on other networks without permission of O2. Reading the ROM to find the unlock code is a violation of both your contractual agreement with O2 and Microsoft. The EULA's clearly state that no reengineering may take place. Finding the unlock code is reengineering (even if it is not encrypted in some obscure place of the ROM). It is all solidly ancored in the contract.

People have been convicted for this specific reason in the netherlands. I agree with you that these people were not individual users, since tracking this kind of people is nearly impossible. However, people selling, distributing or aiding unlocking actions in large quantities are tracable, and are accomplices in these ilegal activities.

Although eventualy it is up to a judge to decide, personally i wouldn't take the risk. Putting this kind of actions on a public board, making that board an accomplice to these actions. This puts the board of not only at risk of the relatively mild dutch procescution, but also at risk of US prosecution and basically every country that can see the site. The second being far more agressive (especially with DMCA) with copyrights and modifications to products.

Personally i don't care what illegal acts you perform and what kind of actions you premote. It's your risk, and if you get caught, it is your problem. However, being a moderator on a board myself, i feel the pain, and would not take the chance of risking the entire board for something that is probably illegal that can be solved by following the legal paths. The moderators here feel the same way.

I have no intention to discuss this any longer. I had too many discussions on the board i'm moderator, and i see no added value from performing those discussions again (and again and again). It's like making blind man see :(: like i said before, most people think they can do what they want with a product once they bought it, but they can't. It feels injust, but it is legally as sound as a bell.

Jaap

[rdef]

Oops_Unlock:

A well-constructed, credible post.

Thanks.