HTC Tells Shipped-ROMs Website Cease And Desist
Many saw it coming, but the real bet was how long would it last. Popular XDA Developer Conflipper just posted on his website that he has been ordered by HTC to Cease and Desist immediately from hosting his massive collection of Shipped ROMS. In a letter written to him by HTC, that Conflipper has posted on his website, HTC states that:
“We have very strong reasons to believe that the HTC Intellectual Property was illegally obtained by fraudulent means. The subject dissemination and publication of HTC¡¦s Intellectual Property is in clear violation of HTC¡¦s legal rights and is an infringement of the HTC¡¦s copyrights, goodwill, as well as the other intellectual rights. The continuing distribution of HTC¡¦s Intellectual Property without authorization has constituted a serious criminal offence under the Copyright Act in the U.S. and the EU and other countries where similar laws are enforced.”
Not only are HTC worried about the shipped ROMS, but it also appears they are hung up on their….artwork?
“HTC has also recently learned that the Site contains software/ROM related to HTC¡¦s Intellectual Property which entails illegal copying of HTC¡¦s original art work.”
Conflipper has two weeks to remove the material outlined in the letter written by HTC. HTC must seriously know that this will not hinder anyone looking for a Shipped ROM past an additional Google Search to find the material somewhere else. I’m not arguing that what HTC is wrong, or that Conflipper is wrong. To me HTC should embrace the ROM Cooking/Developing community and perhaps use them to improve their product. I can tell you in my long experience in flashing custom/cooked ROM’s is that they almost always work way better than the stock ROMs.
In any case, head on over to Shipped-ROMS.com for more information and to read the letter in its entirety.
Related Posts
About The Author
admin
Fascinated with technology, saltwater aquariums and black holes. Handy with power tools or sarcasm and is an avid Clash of Clans addict.
Well hey, on the bright side, at least they didn’t sting XDA, not yet at least or not to my knowledge, with one of these letters which include the line “by any means necessary.”
I just wish they could have nailed Rapidshare with one of these instead. Conflipper’s a good guy. Curious how he pulled this off on a technical level.
@Doug Simmons: Conflipper has access to HTC’s FTP server 😉
HTC must show that it defends it IP to keep any weight behind its patents. This is especially true since they are in litigation with Apple.
You think this is mostly about Sense? That’s their baby, Sense. People love it and you don’t find it on non-HTC phones (along with certain HTC phones like the N1), and maybe they like it that way. Mystery to me why it’s not on the N1 but they have pounced on at least one guy for making a Sense-like widget for all Android phones. And they know the XDA folks are clever at getting things like Sense and whatever else HTC tucks into their roms for certain phones onto other phones and perhaps that free-for-all rubs them the wrong way, using Conflipper’s operation as an example of their mighty letter writing.
I think this is about Sense.
Well, i cant say nothing else, just that hackers are still much steps before HTC then theire, unsure why htc is sad about hacking their roms, when thei’re not available to make better rom for their users. I have HTC Hero, and thanx there;s more then 24 rom derivations on hack world with eclair android, but from HTC i didnt get till yet any update of rom, and today i download an htc update utility and it simply not work.
many troubles even to run that utility, not even flash rom.
Well, i promis i will stay on hackers side, better for me just put zip file on the sd card, then nandroid and flash new rom via clockwork utility, then download unusable mass of bits from htc, reboot and reinstal pc, drivers, and still nothing.
Just waiting for froyo source code and will do my own rom for htc hero withouth sense and possibly with better interface then they do.
I dont feel satisfied when i pay in EU 400$ for this phone, and people in tw and us have evo simply for less then 200$ with better system and support.
realy disapointed.
i have totle i.mate ultimate 6150 , for example. windo soft ware, rom software. melti media software, ect.
do u have any site or any onformation so plz send me .
bicoz i m very apsate 4 my cellphone .
i can’t paoperly working now in this problems so dear sir, And friends send meee totle information