HTC Slaps Cease And Desist Order On Illegal ROM Distributor

[Ed Hansberry]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/17/htc-slaps-phone-firmware-site-with-cease-and-desist-letter/' target='_blank'>http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/17/...-desist-letter/</a><br /><br /></div><p>HTC has sent a cease and desist letter to ROM distributor Shipped ROMs. According to Engadget, the big deal here is HTC is against the site hosting ROMs that should otherwise be available only on HTC or carrier partner servers. HTC told Engadget that they try to take a hand's off approach to modded ROMs, but they cannot tolerate the distribution of plain vanilla ROMs. Does that make sense to you?</p>

[Compusmurf]

Yes, it actually does.

Think what if:

What if someone modified the shipped rom on the other site, some non geek user assumed it was the real version and installed it thinking it was supported by HTC?

No different than if I were electronically sharing Office 2010 on my server and just stating provide your own license. I suspect MS would shut me down too.

[Ed Hansberry]

Yes, it actually does.

Think what if:

What if someone modified the shipped rom on the other site, some non geek user assumed it was the real version and installed it thinking it was supported by HTC?

No different than if I were electronically sharing Office 2010 on my server and just stating provide your own license. I suspect MS would shut me down too.
I agree, but then again, MS would also shut you down if you were providing a customized build of Office 2010 as well. HTC seems to be ok with that. That is what doesn't make sense to me. If I were HTC, I wouldn't allow any of it.

[Craig Horlacher]

They could be concerned about rom's being presented as original/unchanged but actually containing malware or something else that's not in the original. For instance, even if the rom's are not intentionally changed it's possible the virus protection policies are not as rigid as those at HTC so someone could download a virus infected rom update.

That may be a bad example since a win32 binary won't execute on a mobile device but I think other companies have done similar things with drivers and not allowing third parties to distribute them on their web sites.

[Compusmurf]

It's hard to disallow custom stuff which would be covered under GPL (Android), but redistributing their own work on someone's website instead of directing back to HTC seems to be the issue.

Of course, they could just be testing the water for future CnD letters to see what reaction they will get.

[Fritzly]

I agree, but then again, MS would also shut you down if you were providing a customized build of Office 2010 as well. HTC seems to be ok with that. That is what doesn't make sense to me. If I were HTC, I wouldn't allow any of it.

One of the reason for the popularity of HTC WM devices is that people are able to customize it and upgrade to the OS latest release; without this ability I would have ditched my HTC a long time ago...........

[heliod]

They could be concerned about rom's being presented as original/unchanged but actually containing malware or something else that's not in the original. For instance, even if the rom's are not intentionally changed it's possible the virus protection policies are not as rigid as those at HTC so someone could download a virus infected rom update.

That may be a bad example since a win32 binary won't execute on a mobile device but I think other companies have done similar things with drivers and not allowing third parties to distribute them on their web sites.

I also believe that their concern is people masquerading ROMs that contain malware as original.

On the other hand, they also want to keep custom ROM developers working since these guys have been a big help in many things; first of all, in having their products accepted by that public that wouldn't buy HTC products if they did not know they will have some way to upgrade it, second, in debugging their own ROMs. It is quite clear that someone from HTC leaks all those ROMs to these guys, and there has been a sinergy (or we could even say symbiosis) going on for years between them.

[aicon]

I agree with what seems to be the majority opinion (so far).

If you download an 'official' ROM that introduces malware or other problems, then you do have a case, however tenuous, for seeking support from HTC. You don't have to mention your source if they don't ask.

On the other hand, most people who install a modded ROM are aware that it isn't supported and (almost) always voids the warranty.

As for shutting down sites hosting custom ROMs, I think heliod is on the money.