Motorola Says eFuse Doesn't Permanently Brick Phones

radicalpi writes "Motorola has responded to claims that eFuse is designed to brick your device if you attempt to mod it or install unauthorized bootloaders. Yes, the device will still not operate with unauthorized software, but it will only go into recovery mode until you reinstall the authorized software. According to Motorola: 'If a device attempts to boot with unapproved software, it will go into recovery mode, and can re-boot once approved software is re-installed.'"

Comments

Permanently brick sort of like permanently dead?

[noidentity]

Motorola Says eFuse Doesn't Brick Phones

There, fixed that for you. Bricked is permanent. Non-permanent "bricking" isn't bricking at all. If you can revive it, it was never bricked in the first place.

Thanks for the clarification Motorola,

[KonoWatakushi]

but I will decide what software is "authorized" to run on my phone!

No sale for you.

Re:Thanks for the clarification Motorola,

[Barrinmw]

Couldn't this be some sort of unfair business practices? I mean, if Microsoft made it so that only Microsoft approved programs could run on windows, they would be sued in a heart beat, what makes this different?

Re:Thanks for the clarification Motorola,

[Anonymous Coward]

Yet apple does it every day.

Re:Thanks for the clarification Motorola,

[91degrees]

And nobody forces you to use Windows

Actually, uhm.. yes they do. My employer does for one.

Re:Thanks for the clarification Motorola,

[daveime]

How naive can you be ?

Suing IS the only option. Any individual consumer boycotting a product will do nothing, because they don't care about individual users ... this is why they're quite happy to deal with your "customer service" requests by letting you talk so someone in Mumbai reading from a checklist of approved questions but offering no real answers.

Any percentage less than a certain amount are also "don't care" metrics, it simply won't make a dent on their overall sales, and is not cost effective enough to affect a recall or revision to the product.

But a court case, together with it's bad publicity and public perception that the company isn't being totally honest, WILL have the CEOs taking notice, and might just change something to the benefit of all users.

You are one of nearly seven billion people on the planet ... no one cares what you boycott or otherwise, no one will even know about it. Make a class action suit, and entire countries can hear about it on the six o'clock news.

Huh?

[Gazoogleheimer]

...and yet, nobody has ended up properly explaining what eFuse is. In fact, from reading this and other articles, some low-level fuse, like fuses in microcontrollers, doesn't seem to apply to the functionality they describe. This sounds much more complex and much higher-level...so what exactly is everyone going on about? Wikipedia says "In computing, eFUSE is a technology invented by IBM which allows for the dynamic real-time reprogramming of computer chips. Speaking abstractly, computer logic is generally 'etched' or 'hard-coded' onto a chip and cannot be changed after the chip has finished being manufactured. By utilizing an eFUSE (or more realistically, a number of individual eFUSEs), a chip manufacturer can allow for the circuits on a chip to change while it is in operation. The primary application of this technology is to provide in-chip performance tuning. If certain sub-systems fail, or are taking too long to respond, or are consuming too much power, the chip can instantly change its behavior by 'blowing' an eFUSE." What does that have to do with authorized software? Why would they use such a system rather than the other systems that have been used in the past? How is this different than some sort of half-FPGA ASIC? Anyways...

Re:Huh?

[assassinator42]

If it works like it does on the Xbox 360, signed system images will check how many eFuses have been blown and refuse to boot if it's more than what it's expecting. During an update, an eFuse will blown to prevent downgrading to a previous system image that may have some sort of vulnerability. "Vulnerability" in this case likely meaning something that lets you get root access.
The eFuses are in the CPU so it's not like you can just bridge something with a wire.
NOTE: I'm not entirely sure of the specifics with the 360, I think it may be more complicated than simply the number of eFused blown.

Re:Huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

The idea is that cryptographic signatures are stored inside the chip, namely CPU in all cases I know of, so that it only runs properly signed code. Blowing efuses will change the accepted signature to something new, thus setting back the goal of people who've just broken the system.

Microsoft do it with the 360, which keeps unsigned code at bay with each update. It also causes issues with legitimate machines, seeing as one resistor that was faulty caused a huge swathe of console not booting after an update - they had the newly signed dashboard executables, but their efuses weren't blown accordingly.

Expect mobiles to go the way of the 360, but future consoles to step up a few notches. The PS3 is surely the model to be built on - a piece of hardware, one of the Cell SPEs, that is executing completely isolated code that verifies system secrets like game and movie DRM keys. The cracking that made Sony remove OtherOS couldn't touch that SPE, but Sony didn't want to risk the integrity of their DRM - who knows what could have happened next (including Sony, I posit).

IBM et al surely have some truly evil ideas they've thought up since these consoles were released, and there are still a few years to go for the next round... just watch as everybody laps it up, none the wiser, seeing as it's embedded in hardware they simply can't see and DRM simply isn't in the public consciousness.

Re:Permanently brick sort of like permanently dead

[syousef]

Motorola Says eFuse Doesn't Brick Phones

There, fixed that for you. Bricked is permanent. Non-permanent "bricking" isn't bricking at all. If you can revive it, it was never bricked in the first place.

It all depends on how easy it is to reinstall the software. MOST "bricked" devices could be recovered at a service center with specialised equipment for a fee (that may not make it a cost effective proposition). If an end user can make the phone unusable but can't reverse the situation using the same equipment (or at least readily available affordable - as in a few bucks - equipment) I would still call it bricked even if it can be revived.

I have no idea if in this safe mode it's easy to install the authorised software. If it is easy I wouldn't call that bricked either. I'd just call it nasty DRM that I'll steer well clear of.

Motorola really needs to

[gcnaddict]

offer a free opt-out for those willing to take the risk. I'm not sure if the capability is even there, but if the owner is willing to sign a waiver releasing Motorola from any damages in the event that anything goes wrong (a la Malware), Motorola should do it.

Re:Motorola really needs to

[Timmmm]

This is basically what the nexus one does. You can unlock it, but it voids your warranty, and adds an unlocked padlock icon to the boot screen to show that you have unlocked it.

So...

[alters]

...it's about as locked as the iPhone then, and still requires jailbreaking?

Go go open sou....waitaminnit...

Re:So...

[beelsebob]

Much more locked than an iPhone in fact.

Re:Let hackers identify the offending chip(s)...

[Khyber]

The chips are identified, already.

I've already been working on POC code to exploit that eFuse and make it so once activated you CAN'T possibly install anything on the phone any longer. Once it works, Motorola is going to suffer, hard.

Ahh, the joys of exploiting semiconductors for various purposes. Some grow plants, others can be used to annoy someone, and even more can be used to force unfair business practices.

Re:Permanently brick sort of like permanently dead

[mlts]

This sounds exactly like it is on the CLIQ. In the past, if you were not careful with modding, you will end up with the phone bootlooping until you put the phone in USB recovery mode, and flash a signed SHX file. Now, you can most likely use nandroid and pull back to the last backup.

This bit people big time when a new radio ROM was available for upgrading, and people upgraded to it with a rooted/custom ROM, one had to reflash (losing root). Of course new ROM fixed the RAMDLD exploit that was used to root the phone in the first place.

Luckily, on the CLIQ, there was a ROM that had ro.secure set to 0 that was signed by a vendor. This allowed for a recovery image to be flashed, and new ROMS pushed to the phone. Had this not been the case, I'm sure it would have been an uphill battle to get the phone re-rooted, and likely people would have moved on to other platforms and not bothered.

All and all, this isn't great news, but it is better than having devices be rendered unusable until sent to a Motorola repair depot.

Re:Permanently brick sort of like permanently dead

[adolf]

No. Bricked is forever, as defined by perception and ability -- both of which are subject to change.

A few years ago, I really fucked up a WRT54G when playing with software. I was going to throw it away, when I stumbled across a process for programming it using its JTAG interface and a parallel port. (Which worked fine.)

So was it a brick? The answer is simple, but flexible: It was a brick until I learned that it was possible for me to recover it, at which point it ceased to be a brick.

And now that I know how to deal with these issues, I can't successfully brick a WRT54G in the same fashion.

A dozen years ago, I fucked up a PC by flashing the wrong BIOS. Was it a brick? Again, it's a matter of perspective. In this particular case it was not a brick, though most folks would have reasonably considered it to be completely and totally bricked. Why was it not bricked for me? Because I already knew how to fix it: Enable shadow ROM on another computer, and plug the improperly-flashed BIOS into it hot. Then, just re-flash with the correct image, put the hardware back where it was, and move on with life.

DDoS Possible?

[psycho12345]

Wouldn't this be asking for a DDoS? Couldn't one purposely put an app up that went about and blew every single one of these "eFuses", thus forcing a reset of the phone? Sounds like a easy path to take out phones and play some havoc. Not to mention if somehow an app accidentally tripped one too many of these. Hell I could see a scam going that nuked phones this way, then offered to "repair" them, for some extortionate fee.

OMG! Whatever shall we do?

[Nitewing98]

If this was the iPhone they were talking about, there would be front page stories in all the major newspapers and websites saying what a crappy company Apple is for locking down their device. Kind of funny when the shoe's on the other foot, isn't it? As Jobs pointed out today, the iPhone 4 has only been out 22 days and the news media was having a conniption making the antenna issue "major news." (hint: "Major news" is the war in Afghanistan and the Gulf of Mexico mess). In fact, since the whole point of Android was to be open-source (as opposed to Apple's "Death grip" on developers), it's kind of funny that Motorola feels also that there are limits to what you should be able to do with your phone.

Re:OMG! Whatever shall we do?

[bigstrat2003]

It is sad, that's for sure, but at the same time it's unfair to blame Android for this debacle. Android is the OS, and it's not Google's fault that Motorola is so blatantly circumventing the spirit of the OS. Apple, on the other hand, controls the entire system, hardware and software. Thus, anything you don't like about the iPhone can be squarely blamed on them.

Personally, I just hope the rest of the industry doesn't think Motorola has had a bright idea here, and try to follow suit. I also can't see myself getting any of the Motorola phones in the future... I love my Droid, but damned if I'm going to support a company that's pulling stunts like this.

Re:OMG! Whatever shall we do?

[robmv]

When you get hours and hours, lot off news pages of free advertisement before lunch, and you as a company has a culture of overhyping and nurture others desire to hype your product, do not cry when the contrary happens: exaggerated or great emphasis on your mistakes or what you do not delivered

Re:OMG! Whatever shall we do?

[randomsearch]

You're right - the iPhone would get more press and more criticism for this.

This is because Apple are so good at marketing and manipulating the press. Great when it helps the company sell products, but not so great when things are going wrong.

There is plenty of "real news" going on when Apple launch their newest product line, but they still get an amount of press out of proportion to the importance of their products.

RS

Re:OMG! Whatever shall we do?

[Timmmm]

it's not Google's fault that Motorola is so blatantly circumventing the spirit of the OS

I disagree. Maybe at the beginning Google had to bow to phone manufacturer's wishes, but I think it is popular enough now that they can add a few more requirements in return for getting all the Google apps. For example:

* You have to provide Android upgrades for a year after the EOL of the phone.
* You can unlock the bootloader in the same way as the nexus one (but it can void the warranty).
* You have to provide a non-skinned ROM option.
* The phone has to pass some kind of conformance test. Maybe they already do this, but it's clearly not a great test if the they do; e.g. most phones don't support call recording, behave very differently when they are sleeping, and so on.

Re:OMG! Whatever shall we do?

[DJRumpy]

The fault is Google's as well. They could demand that the OS remain open source, instead they went with profit. Google does own the rights to Android do they not? They can also set the terms for it's license.

To claim that Google isn't at fault here is a bit disingenuous, when they are the ones who have the ability to enforce openness and failed to do so.

Re:Permanently brick sort of like permanently dead

[mysidia]

Just because you have discovered an unbricking technique does NOT invalidate the fact that it WAS in fact bricked.

Bricking is not defined as forever.

Bricking means the device is hosed and cannot be recovered without breaking in and modifying the hardware.

Breaking into the JTAG interface of a consumer device and reprogramming PROM are definitely hardware modification techniques that are non-trivial.

Re:Permanently brick sort of like permanently dead

[Smauler]

This is another term that has entered the popular lexicon and got warped. If a device is bricked, _no one_ can reactivate it - it is dead. If someone can revive the device for a fee, it's not bricked.... it's just something you probably should not have bought in the first place. Bricked means bricked - and I've had a few devices go that way on me because of mistakes.

Re:Permanently brick sort of like permanently dead

[jamesh]

Bricked is permanent.

Well then by your definition it's pretty much impossible to "brick" a device without otherwise destroying it, as it's always possible to "unbrick" it by replacing code (whether via JTAG, secret button presses or other means) or swapping components.

Back in the real world, it's a relative term. If you can't unbrick your device then as far as you are concerned it's bricked, even if the manufacturer or someone with a bit more brains could actually fix it for you.

Pay attention, Motorola. Masonry lesson.

[Kaz Kylheku]

No approved software -> one kind of brick.

Approved software -> another kind of brick.

Any questions?

Re:Permanently brick sort of like permanently dead

[adolf]

Breaking in? It's not like it took prybars and hammers to open the thing. A WRT54G opens with a quick tug using no tools other than a pair of reasonably-strong hands.

Modifying the hardware? A little. But the JTAG header was right there on the board, IIRC it was even labeled. All I had to do was solder some pins to it to be able to plug a cable into it. And I could have done it without even going that far: after all, I just needed electrical continuity, and nowhere is it written that this must involve physical modification. (Soldering is easier for one individual device, but if I had a lot of them to fix I'd have come up with something less invasive.)

Breaking into the JTAG interface? To reprogram the PROM? You've gone off of the deep end. JTAG is a bog-standard and rather simple interface for dealing with flash at a low level. And PROMs aren't reprogrammable.

Another reason why the device was not bricked was that it was not physically damaged: No eFuse was blown, no parts had turned to smoke, and never was it in any particular danger. It just had a bad firmware load. In other words, it was experiencing a software problem. So I loaded new software that worked, once I learned how.

*shrug*

In other news, some layfolk also think that a PC with a crapfested install of Windows is bricked beyond help. This opinion is, of course, wrong. But it is based on their perspective and ability.

To use a car analogy: I have a dead GM 4L30E automatic transmission out back which died suddenly in my BMW. I fixed the car by replacing the transmission, which I knew how to do, so at no time was the whole car a brick. Now: Could the 4L30E be fixed? I guess so, but I don't know how to do that, so the tranny itself is still bricked. To someone else with different perspective and ability, it might be a quick fix, but that someone ain't me. If the day comes that I gain the ability to understand and fix automatic transmissions, or I give it to someone else who already understands these things, then it may cease being a brick.

Re:Permanently brick sort of like permanently dead

[adolf]

A "bricked" PSP that can be recovered using a Pandora battery is not bricked at all. It is far more useful than a brick. All it takes is a widget to tell the device to boot from whatever it is that is in the card slot instead of its internal flash. This widget happens to be known as a Pandora battery, and the only thing that is special about it is that its serial number consists of zeroes.

Bricks don't do any of that stuff: I have a pile of them out back, and none of them possess these abilities. A genuinely bricked PSP would resemble a brick, not an electronic device that can easily be brought back to usefulness.

Regarding "user perspective," I have bricked a lot of things (both electronic and mechanical) that I was simply unable to fix myself while being unwilling or unable to pay someone else to do it.

Nonetheless, I am a PSP user. And I am a WRT54G user. And a Droid user. I use them all in ways other than what the instructions say that I should be able to, but that doesn't make me less of a user -- I'm just a user with a different perspective than most have.

No excuse

[The Hatchet]

As long as a device or any part of a device is sold with a feature that says "you are prohibited from doing what you want with something you paid disgusting amounts of money for" Then something is wrong.

When you buy something, it should be yours to do whatever the fuck you want with it. There is no reason that someone else has any right to tell you what you are allowed to do with your possessions. Hell, if someone came into my house and forced me to stop using super glue to attach everything to everything else, I would have him fucking arrested for trespassing. If they are going to tell you what to do with your devices, then they should replace the word 'buy' with the word 'use until we decide otherwise, within the bounds of what we think is ok' I bet people wouldn't pay such shit-tons of money for every little gizmo if it said that instead.

Re:No excuse

[Nethead]

When you buy something, it should be yours to do whatever the fuck you want with it. There is no reason that someone else has any right to tell you what you are allowed to do with your possessions.

So I guess that you also have issues with laws against use of fully automatic machine guns.

It's also illegal to use a spark-gap transmitter these days. Hell, I have commercial Motorola radios that I hack but it's still illegal for me to use them on frequencies that I'm not licensed for. But hey, I bought it and should be able to use it as I want.

Your comment is over generalized, immature and selfish.

Re:Permanently brick sort of like permanently dead

[Kenja]

Funny... cause the USB cable is in the box the phone came with.

Main problem would be EOL-ed devices

[saikou]

In addition to marketoids demanding that you use Blur, there's a bigger problem. Once the device is marked as End of Life (and original Droid already is, right? Been less than a year) I kinda doubt that Motorola will dedicate any resources to bolding Blur onto newer revisions of Android.
Which means users will be stuck in a certain version. Even though new ones could theoretically be used, as hardware is powerful enough (or it could be stripped down by geniuses from XDA Dev :) )
At least they need to disable eFuse on "no longer supported" devices. Otherwise, just another example of planned obsolescence (and even worse than iPhone).

Fuck your software.

[unity100]

i am buying a DEVICE from you. that is a mobile phone. i am not buying a device AND a software. i dont care about your reasons, your justifications, your logic, this that and shit. if you force me to anything after BUYING a device, i will fuck it and do what i want. if there is no possibility of doing that, i wont buy your product, and you can gleefully shove it up your ass.

how do you like this as the opinion of customers ? distasteful isnt it ? well, you asked for it.

Re:Fuck your software.

[Jeff DeMaagd]

Even more broadly, the engineering time they waste maintaining an undesired feature is time not spent making the product line better. So far, the MOTO Droid line isn't pulling the company back to profitability last I checked.

I thought GPL 3 forbade this kind of activity of preventing firmware changes, it undermines one major point of open source while still exploiting open source code. Maybe that language didn't make it into the final license.

Re:Fuck your software.

[jisatsusha]

I thought GPL 3 forbade this kind of activity of preventing firmware changes, it undermines one major point of open source while still exploiting open source code. Maybe that language didn't make it into the final license.

It does. Android is GPLv2 and Apache 2.0 licensed, therefore that does not apply here.

Re:Fuck your software.

[dbcad7]

http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=164034

Android has saved their bacon. And this new model is doing very well, and probably will continue to. The numbers of people who are into running custom ROM's is not enough to make a dent in the sales.. The custom ROM users will go elsewhere, and there will be awesome alternatives for them.. and they will turn their technical noses down on the people who purchase the phone, because they (those idiots) can't do something that most of them would not do anyway.. It's bad for Motorola, as it was these very type of people (the geeks into doing ROM installs) who where a large part of the successful launch of the Droid.. they are the type who brag with enthusiasm about their phone and what it can do to the people with glazed over eyes who don't know the best way to spend their money on a new phone.. but the Droid brand already has made it's dent, and the sales of the newer version show that the brand has worked.

Re:Fuck your software.

[nbahi15]

First, they don't want to deal with them in warranty. Even if people knowingly bricked their phone by attaching a car battery to it they will still hit up the warranty department with a cock and bull story about how it isn't their fault. Clogs up the warranty department and costs the company time and money.

Second, they cannot allow hacking the device to become mainstream. We aren't talking about people loading Linux on their phone to get a shell, the primary reason people want to hack their phone is theft of software. Which harms the platform because the vibrancy of the android platform requires high-quality software. If it is known that your aren't going to make money selling software that will limit the kinds of software available on that platform and that will limit the popularity of Android phones.

Third, hacking the phone can potentially open also sorts of attacks up on the cellular network. How long before people start listening to each others phone calls, hijacking calls, making calls on other peoples accounts, or just creating a DoS attack against the towers. How secure are those cell towers? I don't think we want to know.

Fourth, you do buy hardware software from the company. That is non-negotiable. You are buying a complete product not components.

Cryptographically signed software that starts from bootstrap is going to probably land on all devices eventually to help control costs, improve security, and maintain the revenue stream. They don't have to prevent you from cracking them forever, just until the next update.

Re:Fuck your software.

[zaffir]

We aren't talking about people loading Linux on their phone to get a shell, the primary reason people want to hack their phone is theft of software.

[citation needed]

Re:Fuck your software.

[rwa2]

I seem to remember there was much more public outcry when they tried to do similar things to lock down control of PCs and laptops to software authorized by one manufacturer. Everyone just sort of laughed it off saying "that'll never fly".

But I guess mobile phones have always kinda locked down. Still, the difference a generation makes!

Re:Permanently brick sort of like permanently dead

[Kenja]

Frankly, I'd be interested in knowing how they rooted the phone and then changed the boot ROMs without using a USB cable...

Re:Permanently brick sort of like permanently dead

[RoFLKOPTr]

Bricking means the device is hosed and cannot be recovered without breaking in and modifying the hardware.

No, you seem to misunderstand the meaning of the word "brick". As defined by Wiktionary:

Noun
brick (countable and uncountable; plural bricks)
1. (countable) A hardened rectangular block of mud, clay etc., used for building.
This wall is made of bricks .

A brick is something you build houses with. A device that is in a state of non-function is called a "brick" because that's about all you could do with it. A device that I don't know how to return to a functioning state to me is a brick. If you know how to fix it, then to you it is not a brick, and if you offer to help me fix it then it is no longer a brick to me either. That's what adolf is saying, and I agree. Take a second to let that sink in and maybe you will understand.

Developer/tinkerer friendly Android device?

[Graftweed]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know of any android device that's meant by the manufacturer to be tinkered with? No protected bootloaders, read only filesystems, or any other such shenanigans that are meant to make the task of installing custom ROMs as difficult as possible.

I know the Nexus One is supposed to be very easy to root, and thus developer friendly, but unfortunately it's not available everywhere.

Re:Permanently brick sort of like permanently dead

[Blue Stone]

You say the term 'bricked' got warped, which is true enough etymologically, but the reality is also that it got appropriated to fill a gap.

There isn't a punchy little word that's quite as appealing and new and appropriate to technology (specifically) that describes a device getting temporarily but catastrophically ... um .... hosed/trashed/corrupted.

People were wanting a word to fill that gap and they grabbed the handiest, sweetest-sounding one around. If there's a beter sounding (and definitionally more sound) word for catastrophically failed tech, we better start using it before it's too late!

Re:Permanently brick sort of like permanently dead

[Anonymous Coward]

you know what'd be fun? Let's spends several hours debating the "actual" meaning of a slang term. Can we do hella next? Because my friend says it means "really really" but he's just a fucking retard because I'm positive it means "really really really".

Re:Permanently brick sort of like permanently dead

[digitalchinky]

I don't think you actually even need JTAG. I've borked up many WRT54G's, I think I have pretty much every version kicking around in various places - Just hold a piece of wire on the antenna ground block, then run the other end of it across the flash chip - Some people preferred to short out a specific pin (I forget which one now) but I'd just run the wire over a few until the power light started blinking, TFTP mode, reflash. Never once has this method failed.

Re:Permanently brick sort of like permanently dead

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't know, I can play games with a brick - can the same be said for a PSP? I don't think so.

Welcome to trusted computing

[karlandtanya]

If this works--which is to say that the phones still sell and Moto suffers only tolerable humiliation, expect to see more.
And if it does fly, look for it be in your general-purpose computer, soon.

Let's hope the popular blogs make a big stink about it.
'Cause nobody is listening to the crackpots on /.

Re:Welcome to trusted computing

[karlandtanya]

google or wikipedia can help you with the concept of a general-purpose computer.

With regard to your personal attack and argument from adverse consequences, resorting to this sort of thing shows you have no real basis for your position.

My Dad can exercise his rights under copyright law with his VCR. Not with his comcast DVR (CGMS). Certainly not with his HD recorder (HDCP). If he wants to hack around these restrictions, he must develop everything himself. Nobody can sell him equipment to circumvent an access-control technology (DMCA)--even for the purpose of exercising his rights under the law.

Will you have the right to connect your general-purpose computer to the internet next year? Almost certainly.
Will your ISP permit only connection of "trusted" or locked-down "appliance" type devices in the near future? Why would they do such a thing? Bandwidth costs money. Defending lawsuits costs money. So the answer is maybe. Depends on what you do about it.
Consumer rejection killed DivX. TCPA has so far been a flop due to both political and technical reasons. Lack of interest made V-Chip largely irrelevant. Sony got egg on its face for their rootkit. BUT...
DMCA, CGMS, HDCP and any number of draconian to the point of bizarre restrictions on games are right here in front of you today.

RMS may successfully appeal to the crackpot geeks (one of which I am proud to call myself) on /. with The Right to Read, but this is preaching to the choir.

So, again--
It is important that the general public be aware of these sorts of shenanigans.
And that they make their outrage known by walking away from the culprit vendors and speaking simply, directly, and clearly to other potential customers.

Saying:
That "app" you just paid $9.99 for in your iPhone--do you know that in any other environment--including your own laptop computer, you can have this and an almost infinite number of others like it for free? ...
This accomplishes a whole lot more than saying "Well, as long as I can build a computer from parts there is no problem!"

Re:Permanently brick sort of like permanently dead

[mounthood]

Frankly, I'd be interested in knowing how they rooted the phone and then changed the boot ROMs without using a USB cable...

up up down down left right left right B A

Ordered Sprint HTC EVO 4G on Friday

[crow]

Too late. I don't know if I'll ever need to root my phone, but I want to know that I can. I was considering the Droid X and the HTC EVO 4G, and eFuse was the leading reason for selecting the HTC phone.

It's my phone, if I didn't want control, I would get an iPhone.

No problem

[PPH]

I,ll just put an ePenny in the fuse box.

Re:But but but its android...

[Miamicanes]

> Um, the contract that you agreed to that allows access to the carriers private data/voice network. Laid down by the same carrier that you are contracted with.

And, in the United States, if your carrier happens to be Verizon or AT&T, they're subject to the same consent decree that broke up AT&T's monopoly 25 years ago & forced them to allow consumers to own their own phones. At first, it didn't matter much, because all phones were... well... phones. But within a couple of years, phones started to pick up new features, some of which had absolutely nothing to do with being a "phone", and other devices that were never conceived as phones began to acquire the ability to act like phones.

> These are not standalone devices, and have different risks to whom you have a contract with, thus different rules.

Newsflash: a hacked DOCSIS3.0 cable modem can cause WAY more service disruption than the most hacked Android phone to have ever existed on planet earth. Yet, by law, you can walk into Best Buy (or some other store) and buy your own anyway, whether Comcast likes it or not. Cable modems are literally radio transmitters (and fairly powerful ones, at that), and their broadcasts share cable with customers over a shockingly large area that makes the area served by a single cell tower look small by comparison.

If the carriers want that much control and are that concerned about protecting the integrity of their networks, let them get together and define the specs for a mobile network interface that's basically a "black box" wireless network card having the approximate form factor of a thick SD card whose external connectors consist of power, RF, I2C, and ethernet. Then I can buy whatever pocket computer I like, stick their network interface into it, and then users and carriers can peacefully coexist on opposite sides of a well-defined wall of separation.