However, should i break it then the ‘carrier’ might chose not to service it. That is their choice.

If you buy the phones subsidised from the carrier then you will have to expect that in return for the lower price they want to restrict your use of the phone.

Think of it as a hire purchase agreement where at the end of your contract the phone is yours for £0.00 or free.

I find that equitable but EULA seem to be very restrictive.

If I buy a phone sim free with say Winmo on it and then I remove winmo and replace it with Android I am not breaking my EULA.

However if I remove winmo and install a cooked ROM then it is clear you have broken the EULA not in removing the old ROM but installing a cooked ROM which you did not pay for. As you now have 2 ROM – the original and cooked ROM.

Why do Phone manufacturers pay little attention to this? Simple when you buy the hardware you buy it with the origianl ROM / o/s pre-installed. So the phone manufacturer and o/s vendor are not losing a sale when you install a cooked ROM – because the cooked ROM was never available from the vendor in the first place.

I agree with most people that, when you sign up for service, you are (in most cases) putting your name on a contract saying that you won’t hack the phone. Therefore, at least you should be prepared for whatever consequences come about if you do hack your phone (e.g. no support, termination of service, additional fees, etc…).

It’s also worthy to mention that, when you get a phone under most agreements, no, you do not really own your phone outright. The carrier is willing to let the phone go at a drastically reduced price on certain conditions, among those that you commit to a certain plan for a certain amount of time and that you follow the terms of service. I’ve never gotten out of a contract early, but I suspect if you do that, the carrier will either 1) want the phone back, or 2) want the difference between the MSRP of the phone and whatever discounted price you got for it.

It is YOUR phone. You bought it, paid for it and can do with it as you will. If it came with a contract to a provider you are still legally obligated to fulfil that contract but the carrier is in no more of a position to tell you what you can or cannot do with your phone than the manufacturer is.

The iPhone is a good example. Apple cannot legally stop you from hacking the phone but they can “brick” your phone via software updates without fear of reprisal as you are modding thier software. If you installed something elso on the device, say linux for example, then you arent affected in any way.

I myself use a Windows Mobile device (The HTC Diamond) and have successfully hacked it to network unlock it (as I have more than one sim card) and installed a better version of the OS and the RADIO (basically the HAL for a mobile phone that makes the hardware talk to the OS). I am not using any software I dont have a licence for and am using several programs I have purchased for the WM platform.

If you use pirated software that is an entirely different matter and has nothing to do with hacking the phone.

The main reason I went for Windows Mobile instead of the fruity kind is the walled garden said fruit company has set up: Come on, no filesystem access? No “save as” on the browser? Can’t install my own app/put a data file on it through usb/can’t send a file over wifi/BT on a computing device I hold in my hand (where it’s clear the hardware can do it)? Jeez.. And I thought Microsoft was restrictive, it’s now clear even MS is an angel of openness by comparison.. (I do like the Android but it’s not available over here, and currently MS has more of the kind of software I need).

(As long as it’s not stealing service or pirating software) hacking to get more from a device is not only OK and tons of geeky fun, it’s a moral imperative.