Are All ROMS Illegal according to Microsoft?

[ap90033]

So are all ROMS going to be forced into retirement? Juicy and now Groove are both great ROMS that have been forced off by Microsoft. Is this true?

[ap90033]

Anybody? Is this an April Fools Joke? I know Juicy is gone so that part is true.....

[CoolioDisgracias]

Read your EULA and decide for yourself:

You shall not rent, lease, sublicense, modify, alter, reverse engineer, disassemble, decomplie, or create any derivative work of the SOFTWARE, or remove any copyright notice or proprietary legend contained in the Software. You shall not reproduce the SOFTWARE unless for backup purpose and limited to one copy only.

[orionsbuckle]

well juicy and mighty are still there...m going to down load juicys just incase they happen to remove it....lol...

and if microsoft relaly made a complaint..they would really hurt themselves...cus if i couldnt run Mighty Rom then id have something way more stable

[kodey01]

maybe if windows mobile wasn't so boring on its own peoplewouldn't have to change so much about it.

[sfxc13]

Originally Posted by CoolioDisgracias

Read your EULA and decide for yourself:

Court cases are mixed on whether this is legal. The Microsoft EULA may not be a valid enforceable contract given the mode in which it is accepted.

Also decompiling and reverse engineering are potential fair uses and therefore are arguably legal under copyright law.

Microsoft is trying to protect their new 6.5 OS. Arguably 6.1 ROMs are legal to the degree that the distribution of software is merely adjustments to something they already have (fair use.) Whereas 6.5 ROMs are not fair use because they interfere with MS's legitimate upgrade market when they release 6.5. Also author's have exclusive right to publish works (release them to the public) and 6.5 has yet to be published.

[Tenny]

Originally Posted by sfxc13

Microsoft is trying to protect their new 6.5 OS. Arguably 6.1 ROMs are legal to the degree that the distribution of software is merely adjustments to something they already have (fair use.) Whereas 6.5 ROMs are not fair use because they interfere with MS's legitimate upgrade market when they release 6.5. Also author's have exclusive right to publish works (release them to the public) and 6.5 has yet to be published.

I think this is key. MS is trying to protect 6.5, so any 6.5 rom they don't want out there yet.

[syanni85]

I remember itje over at xda was making 6.5 roms a month or so ago and was "fooled" into taking it down... now he's back up with no worries...

maybe juicy got wind of the "fooling fairy"

[MikeEx]

I can see this happening for 6.5 ROMs.

Fat chance for 6.1, they would have sent C&D letters to every ROM chef when they got Juicy on his 6.1 build that had 6.5 code.
They do keep an eye on whats released here.


In any case. Google can still find you the goods.

[jdignazio]

There has recently been much anxiety in the Windows Mobile ROM cooking world over at XDA-Developers after the web site started receiving take down notices from some-one purporting to be from Microsoft. The practice of making updated firmware for older devices have always been borderline illegal, and the similar practice on the desktop (e.g placing a pirated copy of Windows Vista on a XP machine) would never have been tolerated.
It later turned out the take down notices were rather dubious in origin, and did not really conform to the format used by Microsoft. Tweakers.net, a Dutch web site, decided to take the bull by the horns and ask Microsoft and HTC directly what they thought of the situation.
Maarten Sonneveld, from Microsoft Netherlands was very clear. "What is happening there, adjusting ROMs is illegal. They go to get the intellectual property of others." He however, Pilate-like, absolved Microsoft from any responsibility to address the crime. "This intellectual property is not with us. The ROMs are owned by manufacturers or providers, if the branded versions. We supply only the OS."
That leaves the ball in HTC’s court. HTC however had no plans to squash one of the biggest selling points of their phones. "What happens there should not", says HTC Benelux director Mark Moons. "But XDA-Developers is the largest and most active community of Windows Mobile developers. We can not live with ‘em and we can not live without’ em."
The outcome of these statements is therefore than an uneasy truce exists, leaving XDA-Developers to continue their exploits in peace, but always with a gun pointed at their head if either Microsoft or HTC changes their minds. If this were to happen however it is likely that both would see a dramatic loss of market share, as many regulars who only buy HTC Smartphones, abandon the platform in droves.
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