[nuprotocol]

Originally Posted by Telek

Not to mention that someone posted a hacked copy of the HSPL about 15 minutes after it was released, and anyone with even basic SPL knowledge can just rip the HSPL out of an unlocked phone and use that to unlock any other phone that they wanted.

I hate to say it, but the registration process has turned out to be such a huge waste of time for everyone involved. Most unfortunately they brought this sort of dissent on themselves. They spent nearly a month trying to get their server up and running after they had a working HSPL, a system which doesn't work properly, and they take forever to respond to support requests because they have too many other things to do.

Please understand I am not criticizing them for having lives or their awesome work, but they have eroded their image and frustrated countless people in an endeavour that most people (correctly) guessed would not work in the first place.

Ironically it's quite similar to what the RIAA/MPAA have done in their quest for content protection. Once audio or video is available in digital form it will be copied. The inane amount of protection that they attempted to layer on to prevent pirates from copying only served to provide a welcome challenge to the pirates and annoy the consumers, many of whom got so frustrated that they actually started pirating whereas they would have purchased legally had the protection not been there. As countless studies have shown people who would purchase legally in the first place still do, and people who would pirate either don't get a copy at all or continue to pirate. Impact to the bottom line of the industry is a giant 0 except for the massive amount of money lost on creating and pursuing the copy protection technology in the first place. I fear that the same thing has happened here.

Having said all that what would a better method have been to try to accomplish their goals of a) getting more donations and b) ensure that this product was only used by the community and not by commercial leeches trying to profit off of their work? I think a) could have been accomplished by requiring a valid email address and sending them a link to download a copy of the HSPL. If a donation wasn't received as a part of the unlocking process they could fire off a polite reminder email a week or two later asking how it's working and reminding them that they would like a donation. I'm not sure however how b) can reasonably be acheived since, as I mentioned, once the HSPL is out there are several methods that can be easily used to pirate it for unscrupulous use.

I know a lot of people are frustrated, so perhaps some constructive debating can assist them in developing a better system for their next release? Anyone have any ideas?

Well Said....