SPV Rom question

[Guest plog]

Ive gathered in the last week that roms are a really touchy subject here, so ill ask outright.

If a member here hacks an orange phone rom, for whatever reason.. or encourages, sanctions hacking of an official orange rom, can we talk about it ? Because at that point it becomes an illegal rom, just like game roms, non-sanctioned by Orange, not supported by Orange, not sold or distributable by Orange, and illegal to distribute or link to while it carries their trademarks.

Ive noted that such information is available here for rom hacking, and im just wondering why its ok to allow discussions of this nature vs game roms which are not; after all a rom is a rom, and an illegal rom is an illegal rom isnt it.. whatever is inside it. It's just a data file end of the day, official or not, guess im just looking for the difference, someone to draw the line clearly and tell me why the two should be treat differently.

This one is probably better answered by one of the MoDaCo staff members.

Thanks.

[Guest midnight]

it becomes an illegal rom as soon as it exists, as far as i'm aware, there are no illegal roms on MoDaCo

[Guest plog]

And the 2nd paragraph re:discussions ?

[Guest midnight]

the problem with discussion (particularly with game roms) is that it encourages the downloading of illegal roms, and we have discouraged talk of mpx200 roms for example, and have removed any links to it. If Orange or well, anyone really, wishes us to remove something we oblige. As you know, emulators in general are a touchy subject, and the hardware manufacturers do not like it one bit (hardly surprising), but they cannot really prevent the making of emulators due to legal loopholes, they can however do something about rom downloads as every commercial game carries a eula, which states that there must be no reproduction, duplication, copying, hiring etc.

[Guest plog]

correct, every trademark property in some way be it data, video, sound or design contains the phrase "no reproduction in any method in whole or in part" - this also goes for the 30 second ringtones by the way. maybe nobody has yet got the eye here, but the way things are going i wouldnt be surprised to see it happen. best of luck then to any trademark infringers out there.

eventually, theyll need it.

the fact that nothing has yet been removed from modaco does not mean it wont happen. as for the orange rom hacking tutorial using hex editors to change start screens and fonts etc........ should this be allowed here ? encouraging something the signing agreement prohibits in some way, not providing a rom image hacked (illegal) but proving the info to hack it and break the law.

its not the same as overclocking or moding, the tutoril actively shows you how to hack a legal rom and turn it into a non-legal rom.

thanks.

[Guest rcperez]

well plog firmware are a tad different from roms. if you are an owner you could do whatever you like with your firm just dont redistribute them or reverse eng them. But w8 ur saying thats what i was teaching. Yes in general not brand/product oriented and if you do it youll be breaking your eula and end up loosing ur warranty.

So whats bugging you mate?

Posted from my SmartPhone!

[Guest plog]

no bugs, just getting a firm handle on what we can and cant do on this forum b4 i start with my incredibly diverse posts :)

[Guest midnight]

indeed, what you do to your rom is your own business, now if someone hacked it then started spreading it then thats a different story. Again, if Orange actually asked us to remove that thread we would, oh, and by the way, we have been asked to remove things before, even just links to other sites with mpx200 roms, and we removed without hesitation, the same goes for ringtones, logo's, anything of that nature. Oh, and there is a fair use policy, it does exist and it states that your are allowed to use 30 seconds or 10%, whichever is the smaller, the reason being this promotes the tune, someone listening to 30 seconds of a tune they really like means they will want the full song (and then they should buy it), of course, this is american law, but.... this site is hosted in america and so comes under american law. (we'd still remove something if someone asked though)

[Guest plog]

Ahh that explains it, thanks for clearing that up for me, i wondered about that. American hosting.....

[Guest Brody]

There you go, I knew it was something like that! :)