Database Info

Petition HTC to unlock their bootloaders - please sign!

Hi, I'm an Incredible S owner but I thought I'd cross-post this here since it applies to the Desire S as well.
There's a new online petition to protest HTC's decision to introduce signed bootloaders that prevent rooting and the use of custom ROMs on their phones. It's on a website called Groubal which takes customer complaints directly to companies if a petition gets enough signatures.
If like me (and most of us on the IS forum!) you want to see HTC's decision to lock down all their new phone firmware reversed, please go to this page and sign. Maybe if there are enough of us, HTC will be forced to listen.
Thanks for your time!

i signed but well, you really think htc is caring about that partition?
they give a f*** for those low % of persons wanting open bootloaders

Really? I mean, come on really?

I'll sign but these never do any good. The only thing companies a big as HTC respond to is money. If enough of us switch to Samsung and LG maybe they'll listen. Problem is Im still buying Evo 3D as their is a glimmer of hope that it will be unlocked or hacked. If its not within the first 30 days its going back.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App

IS is obviously Incredible S, piece it together before you post insulting comments

I figured it out about 2 seconds after I posted but looks like you already read it. Definitely wasn't insulting though and IS is not obvious. Never heard it refered to as IS only Inc S. Internet and their damn acronyms for everything!
To me it seemed like it should of read "If you're like me (and most of us on the forum ARE) "
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App

OneStepAhead said:
I figured it out about 2 seconds after I posted but looks like you already read it. Definitely wasn't insulting though and IS is not obvious. Never heard it refered to as IS only Inc S. Internet and their damn acronyms for everything!
To me it seemed like it should of read "If you're like me (and most of us on the forum ARE) "
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apologies for any confusion, I wrote it in a bit of a hurry! As long as you got the gist of it, that's the main thing.

OneStepAhead said:
I'll sign but these never do any good. The only thing companies a big as HTC respond to is money. If enough of us switch to Samsung and LG maybe they'll listen. Problem is Im still buying Evo 3D as their is a glimmer of hope that it will be unlocked or hacked. If its not within the first 30 days its going back.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This partly true. HTC have been a long way short after the HD2 (clearly ahead of the market), but now with the Sensation they have a chance to capture the high end consumers again.
We are another segment of consumers and a small one at that; if we don't buy HTC phones then I doubt it would make a big enough dent in their revenue to matter. BUT in my opinion we are a group at the forefront of having the most strict requirements. Those that push the boundaries of these phones, critiquing ever bit of software/hardware far more than the average consumer. If we were listened too a bit more HTC might realise that we hack and root our phones because we know they have the potential to be better, a potential that HTC need to realise to beat the likes of Samsung (who are improving on their software and at this rate will soon offer consistently better phones than HTC).
We should be embraced, not excluded.

OneStepAhead said:
I figured it out about 2 seconds after I posted but looks like you already read it. Definitely wasn't insulting though and IS is not obvious. Never heard it refered to as IS only Inc S. Internet and their damn acronyms for everything!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As a non-native speaker I hate acronyms too, and if you didn't mean that in an insulting way, my apologies ...you know what they say...think before ink
PS: to me it was obvious especially after pointing out he's from Incredible S forum...plus Desire S is often reffered to as a DS
But I think HTC will never listen to petitions like this... sadly... (but I signed it nonetheless )

Just signed it, although the chance of HTC to reconsider unlocked bootloader is very slim. Hopefully their sales will be affected by this poor decision.

These companies don't care about petitions. They only follow their agendas.
Still rocking the Incredible with the XDA Premium App.

Never give up trying...
Don't know how much this will help, but signed the petition.

i will sign just for the cause.
its a no win answer for HTC. if they claim only a small percentage of users root and that this wont effect sales, then why spend the money to lock their bootloaders if such a low percentage of users even root anyway? seems like a waste of resources and money if virtually nobody roots.
and if a high percentage of users DO root, then why lock their bootloaders since that would indicate those users buy HTC specifically for the rooting abilities.
either reason HTC uses as an excuse, it goes into the makes no sense answer response.

HTC Has been Spying On Users?

According to this article, HTC has been monitoring us and whether we have rooted or not. Has anyone else heard of this?
http://pocketnow.com/android/htc-android-updates-turn-your-phone-into-a-spy

Good God the world we live in...everyone's spying on someone who in turn is spying on someone else..you can't take a **** without worrying about your camera secretly recording your ****-a-doodle-do posted on TMZ or some gay website...
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App

nexicon said:
Good God the world we live in...everyone's spying on someone who in turn is spying on someone else..you can't take a **** without worrying about your camera secretly recording your ****-a-doodle-do posted on TMZ or some gay website...
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
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Well Put Mate

i could careless i dont do nothing incrimanating on my phone so oh well if they want to see the bs apps i install or how long i use the phone so be it. Now if you say that their turning on peoples cameras then we have somthing to worry about

Article says that recent updates are responsible for the recording of information. So if you're like me and run a custom ROM and never received updates from HTC you should be fine?
In any case, I couldn't care less, because the world will reach 1984 at one point or another.

Good thing im not running htc Rom/ Kernel!

The article I read keeps referring to the Sprint Sensation...just sayin
http://www.bgr.com/2011/09/01/htc-sensation-and-evo-3d-revealed-to-be-spying-on-users/

phonegod said:
i could careless i dont do nothing incrimanating on my phone so oh well if they want to see the bs apps i install or how long i use the phone so be it. Now if you say that their turning on peoples cameras then we have somthing to worry about
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Pretty much this. Unless you're developing a code to destory the nations system, why should it matter? OH HTC knows where I was on September 1st, its not like they can do anything about it. They're a phone company not the FBI.
If it turns on my camera and watches everything I do, then yeah I'll sue!! But when I first power the phone after flashing a ROM, it ask if I want google to collect information from my phone. You know what I do? I gladly accept it cause I could care less.

nexicon said:
Good God the world we live in...everyone's spying on someone who in turn is spying on someone else..you can't take a **** without worrying about your camera secretly recording your ****-a-doodle-do posted on TMZ or some gay website...
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
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Dude.....I thought that was you!

Knucklessg1 said:
According to this article, HTC has been monitoring us and whether we have rooted or not. Has anyone else heard of this?
http://pocketnow.com/android/htc-android-updates-turn-your-phone-into-a-spy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The source for the article you linked to is from XDA!!!

Any time someone is accessing your information without consent, it's a problem.
I certainly don't think every move like this us some Orwellian plot against our personal security but they all definitely help pave the way.
Sent from my spice rack using xda premium

I would guess it also uses more data and battery...so I dont like it.

For all the people not caring about their privacy, please stop posting here and go play some Facebook games or do something else in which all your private information gets bundled and sold to another party.
For all the people caring about their privacy, this obviously is a great invasion of your privacy against your will/consent. It's simply bad. I wonder if HTC won't get sued for this.

HTC has already spoke of the issue. Every time something force closes or the phone has a random reboot you can opt in or opt out. You have the choice from the beginning. The information they are taking has NOTHING to do with them selling or spying on you. Nothing is phoned home unless your phone does something unexpected AND you opt in. It asks you every time unless you go into settings and to always opt in or out instead of ask every time.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using Tapatalk

[Q] IMEI switching, Good or Bad?

It has recently come to my attention that a few people are upset at the actions I took to get the threads closed which told you how to change your IMEI number.
The way I understand it is that Changing your IMEI is illegal in most countries. So I asked a mod if this knid of thing was allowed on XDA developers. The moderation team closed the thread, not me. They decided it was not suitable.
So I'm curious to know what the general opinion on this matter is.
And rather than me receive PM's from people making personal attacks I thought it would be better to discuss in public.
Please let me know your thoughts

cjward23 said:
It has recently come to my attention that a few people are upset at the actions I took to get the threads closed which told you how to change your IMEI number.
The way I understand it is that Changing your IMEI is illegal in most countries. So I asked a mod if this knid of thing was allowed on XDA developers. The moderation team closed the thread, not me. They decided it was not suitable.
So I'm curious to know what the general opinion on this matter is.
And rather than me receive PM's from people making personal attacks I thought it would be better to discuss in public.
Please let me know your thoughts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Share the trick dude!
Sent from my HTC Desire S

hamedunix said:
Share the trick dude!
Sent from my HTC Desire S
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Click to collapse
You are asking Cjward to participate in an illegal activity.
IMEIs allows phones to be rendered useless if the phone is reported stolen. Sharing "the trick" of changing IMEIs not only promotes theft of Android phones, but it is illegal in some countries.It would allow the possibility of getting XDA in trouble if such information was posted here and we don't want that.

cjward23 said:
It has recently come to my attention that a few people are upset at the actions I took to get the threads closed which told you how to change your IMEI number.
The way I understand it is that Changing your IMEI is illegal in most countries. So I asked a mod if this knid of thing was allowed on XDA developers. The moderation team closed the thread, not me. They decided it was not suitable.
So I'm curious to know what the general opinion on this matter is.
And rather than me receive PM's from people making personal attacks I thought it would be better to discuss in public.
Please let me know your thoughts
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess one of those people would be me. It was not meant as a personal attack. I'll just repost what I said before on another thread so there are no confisions:
Some guy thread about imei unlocking got closed and locked in the general section. This has nothing to do with this rom, but i can't reply there. So here are my thoughts.
The action may be ilegal, but the information itself isn't. You are ultimately responsible for what you do with it.
There are lots of examples throughout History about information limiting for "the good of the people". Usually ends up with book burning.
Another example: I'm pretty sure that in my country it's illegal to record calls without the consent of the other party. The should I take out 2 way call recording from the kernel, and should xda delete all info on this site on how to do it?
What about the google apps we all include in our custom roms? There's a reason CM7 does not include them. It's illegal. Should xda remove all threads and roms that do not comply?
I'm sorry for the rambling, but i enjoy my freedom, and selfrighteous actions like these make my blood go hot.
Peace
Sent from my HTC Desire S using xda premium​
After this there were more examples on illegal stuff we do around here. If anyone actually reads the HTC terms of service, pretty much everything we do with sense roms is illegal. The point is, information should not be limited. Here's a drastic example:
The best way to kill someone fast: shoot him on the head.
Am I condoning murder? Will that line be edited bi mods?
Ridiculous example of course, but the line of reasoning is the same.
Peace.
This is not meant to start a flame war, or pose as a personal attack on anyone.

@lowveld
It wasn't you, I received 2 PM's and one of them wasn't very nice.
I'm very intrested to see what the general consensus is on this matter.
Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk

There are quite a few of examples there. Some that are irrelevant, some that you are right (HTC example), but since HTC has not acted on XDA, and most likely have used developer's fixes I assume they are fine with it because they are not making a profit and it is beneficial to them. As for the call recorder one...Well you could just use it legally...I mean I can't see how changing your IMEI is legal in any way.

Cimer said:
There are quite a few of examples there. Some that are irrelevant, some that you are right (HTC example), but since HTC has not acted on XDA, and most likely has used developer's fixes I assume they are fine with it. As for the call recorder one...Well you could just use it legally...I mean I can't see how changing your IMEI is legal in any way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would also like to know what effort someone could get from in it legal matters.
When I understand it the right way there is none except the possibility to mask a stolen phone.
Swyped from my Desire S

Don't You think that knowledge of how to do such a "trick" can encourage theft and sale/use of stolen goods? It's like sharing info about how to steal a car and what to do next to make it "legal" again for further sale.
You guys must be really thick to refuse to understand that:
1. It is illegal
2. Wast majority of our community is against it
3. This is xda developers, not xda thieves guild

Please provide links to laws cant find anything about it
Cimer said:
You are asking Cjward to participate in an illegal activity.
IMEIs allows phones to be rendered useless if the phone is reported stolen. Sharing "the trick" of changing IMEIs not only promotes theft of Android phones, but it is illegal in some countries.It would allow the possibility of getting XDA in trouble if such information was posted here and we don't want that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sent from my IPhone 8S using time wrap app professional

Cimer said:
There are quite a few of examples there. Some that are irrelevant, some that you are right (HTC example), but since HTC has not acted on XDA, and most likely have used developer's fixes I assume they are fine with it because they are not making a profit and it is beneficial to them. As for the call recorder one...Well you could just use it legally...I mean I can't see how changing your IMEI is legal in any way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A few years back I had a Asus P527, windows mobile device. Due to some flashing issues, me and a coupe of dozen other users ended up with the same (default) IMEI. At the time, a service provider from India threatened to cut out service to anyone in that situation. So I figured out how to change the IMEI in that situation, and all was well. But it was still illegal in strict definitions.
But the example is pointless, and the discussion is pointless if you're making points like "HTC has not acted" and "is most likely fine". That does not bear any impact whatsoever on the legality of the action.
And what you find "not relevant" was not meant as a actual real life example, but what in mathematics is referred as "reduction to absurdity". Apply the same set of rules to a different situation with the same premises, and you see the ridicule in the rules themselves.
Cheers
And I'm through with this. Peace.

Nothing more to say ..!!!
lowveld said:
A few years back I had a Asus P527, windows mobile device. Due to some flashing issues, me and a coupe of dozen other users ended up with the same (default) IMEI. At the time, a service provider from India threatened to cut out service to anyone in that situation. So I figured out how to change the IMEI in that situation, and all was well. But it was still illegal in strict definitions.
But the example is pointless, and the discussion is pointless if you're making points like "HTC has not acted" and "is most likely fine". That does not bear any impact whatsoever on the legality of the action.
And what you find "not relevant" was not meant as a actual real life example, but what in mathematics is referred as "reduction to absurdity". Apply the same set of rules to a different situation with the same premises, and you see the ridicule in the rules themselves.
Cheers
And I'm through with this. Peace.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sent from my IPhone 8S using time wrap app professional

Just mind your own threads next time.
Destroyer
The trick is on my site PERMANENT
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA Premium App

hey, cjward did what he thought was correct. DON'T GO AGAINST HIM, JUST BECAUSE HE REPORTED SOMETHING HE FELT WAS WRONG. HE IS, IN ABSOLUTELY NO WAY, AT FAULT. Even though i feel that information should be shared without any problems, and brokenworm's thread shouldn't have been deleted, i feel sad that people are flaming cjward. I completely agree with lowveld.

Got to admit when I first saw this posted, I actually questioned to myself whether or not this would be useful or not.
Unfortunately the reasons I had come up with as to why this could be useful, were not in a lawful manner. I thought about this further, came up with the idea again except expanded but with more self-justification. I've given up on the idea in a whole.
Unfortunately I feel that the information should be there, but the associated information pertaining to the relevant law(s) and legal ramifications boldly displayed with what it obviously should and shouldn't be used for, should said distribution of information.
I have to disagree with the way brokenworm is going about this though, immature in the least.

Technically, good.
Sent from my HTC Desire S using xda premium

Dont flame the proud policeman?
shrome99 said:
hey, cjward did what he thought was correct. DON'T GO AGAINST HIM, JUST BECAUSE HE REPORTED SOMETHING HE FELT WAS WRONG. HE IS, IN ABSOLUTELY NO WAY, AT FAULT. Even though i feel that information should be shared without any problems, and brokenworm's thread shouldn't have been deleted, i feel sad that people are flaming cjward. I completely agree with lowveld.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sent from my IPhone 8S using time wrap app professional

In my opinion I think it's bad ;( why? Becoz it's 1 of the unique information to identify who owns the phone by looking at the IMEI, so if a thief knows how to do this he can modify the IMEI so no one will know if the phone was stolen.
Just my little opinion peace!
Sent from my HTC Desire S using xda premium

i have a question, probably noobish one but would apreciate any response. what is the benefit of changing the imei? why would we want/need to do it? i guess it's like changing the mac adress of a nic but in this case i know what the benefits are but do not find them relevant in the case of the imei. sorry for the question if it's not apropriate..

xxmorph3u5xx said:
i have a question, probably noobish one but would apreciate any response. what is the benefit of changing the imei? why would we want/need to do it? i guess it's like changing the mac adress of a nic but in this case i know what the benefits are but do not find them relevant in the case of the imei. sorry for the question if it's not apropriate..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless you are a theif, drug dealer, pimp, fraudster, terrorist or politician you will probably never have a reason to change your phones IMEI number.
Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk

cjward23 said:
Unless you are a theif, drug dealer, pimp, fraudster, terrorist or politician you will probably never have a reason to change your phones IMEI number.
Sent from my HTC Vision using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you CJ. You hit rock bottom there. I actually considered you an even minded guy, but generalizations like that kind of prove me wrong.
Fu**, I even told you that I had done it before, so in what way is this not a personal attack? Care to tell me what you think I am? Thief? Rapist?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=579741

Its not about the Money Money Money..

Dear fellow XDA-ers,
What do you think of the following link:
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270904716829?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio using Tapatalk

kaleavi said:
Dear fellow XDA-ers,
What do you think of the following link:
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270904716829?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally, I'd never send my phone to anyone. I'd say thats a reasonable charge for the service, but what if he bricks it? Better yet, what if he KEEPS it?

ChaZnsc said:
Personally, I'd never send my phone to anyone. I'd say thats a reasonable charge for the service, but what if he bricks it? Better yet, what if he KEEPS it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, is it right to give this kinda service?? Its like making money off all the hard work of devs and chefs for yourself.
Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio using Tapatalk

WTF
he got positve feedback too!!!!!
how lazy are ppl to send a phone to an unknown android developer to root them phone???
he could even be fair in asking money to unleash the beast... but DA**! it's so easy and cool o it yourself...
by the way.. that's the world

stremax said:
he got positve feedback too!!!!!
how lazy are ppl to send a phone to an unknown android developer to root them phone???
he could even be fair in asking money to unleash the beast... but DA**! it's so easy and cool o it yourself...
by the way.. that's the world
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes this is one weird world..
Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio using Tapatalk

Well, he's just offering a service. I don't see why we should blame him. I'm the kind of hacker interested in tweaking my phone. I'm sure other people don't care.
In other field (cooking for example), I'm sure I'd be considered as a lazy bastard. I bet many people around here are in the exact same situation.
In economics, we call that preferences and we take those as data, we don't judge them. Let them be free.

Shrat said:
Well, he's just offering a service. I don't see why we should blame him. I'm the kind of hacker interested in tweaking my phone. I'm sure other people don't care.
In other field (cooking for example), I'm sure I'd be considered as a lazy bastard. I bet many people around here are in the exact same situation.
In economics, we call that preferences and we take those as data, we don't judge them. Let them be free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is he is making money off of work that is not his. This right here is the main reason developers are starting to keep things to themselfs and select freinds and not releasing it to the public.
Guys when you see something like this just report it to the site.

Meh...as long as they offer a legit service, why not?
How many times a day do you pay someone else to do something for you?
Sent from my MB865 using XDA App

I wonder how Stallman would answer to that...
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

This is pretty much the same as people paying to get their PSPs, DSes, PS3s, Xboxes or anything else, hacked/modified. He's not selling the mods and roms, he's just selling his service. I feel that it's okay.

This reminds me of people who sell instructions with rooting tools or xbox, wii, psp mod files that they have found online for free but this guy isn't actually selling the free software he made sure he mentioned you are buying his services which would be rooting and hooking up the phones for lazy asses who don't want to take the few extra minutes to google the stuff they need (which I think is half the fun; getting to know about my phone and seeing it do stuff that the manufacturer says can't be done...) but anyway it's their money if they want to pay for something that can be easily done I guess that's on them. BUT I would think better of the seller if these tools he is using were developed by him instead of using the tools that other developers had put alot of time and work into and the developers themselves give it away because that's what they love to do and aren't getting a dime for all of the work they've done and then the help they freely give when answering our questions over and over for people like him to turn around and profit off of their hard work that they aren't even profiting off of. It makes me so grateful that most people are not like this seller. He really is profiting off of other people's hard work that he got for free which is totally greedy and all of that kind of stuff.
Thank you to all of our devs who put alot of time into helping us make our phones beyond awsome!
I was thinking of sending him a message and ask him which rom and tools does he use or if would he use or a screenshot for a specific phone just to be nosy.

People make money off others hard work every day. It's called Capitalism.
Don't hate because this guy is making money off of others ignorance.

dk-v1 said:
People make money off others hard work every day. It's called Capitalism.
Don't hate because this guy is making money off of others ignorance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah well it doesn't fly here. You use the work of others and charge for it and things happen. One should never steal a hackers work lol
And a great example of why some of the greatest mods are no longer posted publicly and only shared privately between trusted developers.

As far as I know, developers usually allow such uses. I'm sure they are well aware of the possibilties offered by their licences. I personnaly use a BSD licence for most of my programs and encourage those behaviors.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

zelendel said:
Yeah well it doesn't fly here. You use the work of others and charge for it and things happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When your car breaks down, do you bring it to a mechanic?
Sent from my MB865

dk-v1 said:
When your car breaks down, do you bring it to a mechanic?
Sent from my MB865
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Click to collapse
No I don't personally. There is a big difference. They are not using someone else hardworking that is given away for free. There are rules you agree to when you join the site. And that includes asking to use the work of others. And no developer will allow someone to make money off of a tool they give away for free

the ONLY way i could see what he is doing as ok is if he was donating a portion of the profits to the devs of the work he uses.

zelendel said:
And no developer will allow someone to make money off of a tool they give away for free
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Click to collapse
This is just wrong. You should learn what free software is (not as in free beer but as in free speech).
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

Shrat said:
This is just wrong. You should learn what free software is (not as in free beer but as in free speech).
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
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Click to collapse
I know what it means. Been doing this for many years. You should learn what respect is. That is what developers deserve and it is not given when you steal their free software to charge for.
In the end this has been covered many times. If someone is charging for the work of others then report them and they will be banned from here. As for other sites just report them as these devices are released with free licences charging for them is illegal.
Thread closed

Confusing

First off, my intent is no to flame or enflame, but rather an expression of desired continuity. Seanzscreams SkyIce has been lock with thousands upon thousands of user of his rom swinging in the wind. This is supposedly over the "illegal" use of the dropbox.apk being used from a port of the SG3. What I am not understanding is that 4-5 months ago, a similar hack was used with the box.apk ported from the nexus. This was never locked or removed. In fact, it was touted in the portal itself. I am having a problem seeing a difference in the two situations. If this were just a case of cleaning all the flamers, that would be anoter thing because it gets bad, and I hate to see that myself. But, it is not just that. Again, I am looking to cause no uproar, but voice my concern over this. I have to. If I felt I could not do at least that here, than the forum would feel like being stuck in iOS. Limited, stifled and voiceless. I cant stand the thought of XDA feeling like that to me after four years of being here. Thank-you for your understanding on the nature of this post. Respect to mods, respect to devs, and respect to fellow users.
Sent from My SKYICS powered, iPhone killing, i727 death machine.

In before lock! :silly:

Its prob not the apk its self but what he got in return for including into rom. Not that I have anything against it, I mean hell he spends a lot of time for us the users. He should get something.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium

I truly hope it does not get locked. There is never anything wrong with a place to respectfully and diplomatically voice concerns and/or thoughts on such a topic. I choose to never flame or stifle anyone, and always welcome respectful opposition to my point of view. Hell, i am use to being told im wrong. Ive been married twice, lol.
Sent from My SKYICS powered, iPhone killing, i727 death machine.

cha0sdsm said:
Its prob not the apk its self but what he got in return for including into rom. Not that I have anything against it, I mean hell he spends a lot of time for us the users. He should get something. Thank-you for your input on this cha0dsm. The more info, the better.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
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I was not aware of him getting anything for including it. Bit if that is the situation, then point well taken. Whether that .apk is present or not, he will still be on my donate to list. His roms have made my phone so much more enjoyable than I could have imagined. Funny thing is, I never got the extra space with that .apk. But to be fair, I never use dropbox either.
Sent from My SKYICS powered, iPhone killing, i727 death machine.

rebel1699 said:
Hell, i am use to being told im wrong. Ive been married twice, lol.
Sent from My SKYICS powered, iPhone killing, i727 death machine.
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Click to collapse
Haha great! You said it!:laugh:
Us types may just be the silent minority but we know our place!
And I'll add to it, it's not just the wives, but the kids sure like to show us it too sometimes. Makes a man humble.

Retracted
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium

Retracted

I would hate to lose such a prolific Dev to this. I see the value in, XDA protecting itself, from perceived illegal activity, I see no issue with locking the threads until figured out. I would rather lose a Rom than this wonderful site.
Here's to SeanZ quick fix and re-upload of a new version of SkyICS 4.2F without the offending apk.
Thank you Seanz and XDA, both, for what you give us.

I'm assuming there is some back-channel dialog with Sean, and hopefully all ends well with new version(s) of the ROMs without the dropbox.apk.
That said, this is kind of an interesting line to walk, given how much of the activity (and value) of xda relates to all sorts of leaked, back-ported, or re-distributed software. When a leaked ROM is posted, or pieces of a ROM cross-ported & posted, for example, is it always clear which pieces are "okay" and which are "TOS violations?"

ChillFactorz said:
I would hate to lose such a prolific Dev to this. I see the value in, XDA protecting itself, from perceived illegal activity, I see no issue with locking the threads until figured out. I would rather lose a Rom than this wonderful site.
Here's to SeanZ quick fix and re-upload of a new version of SkyICS 4.2F without the offending apk.
Thank you Seanz and XDA, both, for what you give us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I may still have a few concerns, I completely understand your stance. I love this community, which was the motivation for writing the Op. I also absolutely love the Roms that Sean provides for us. His work and dedication for us, as a community, is simply amazing. I have an immense amount of respect and gratitude for the man. As far as the Mod who locked the threads, I have never noticed anything truly "unfair" or "demeaning" by them, either. Even warning posts are courteous and respectful. So, I cant complain there. Heres to hoping that this amazing dev and the officiating mod/mods get this cleared up in a timely and mutually beneficial manner, so we can all resume our enjoyment of Seans brilliant roms within this great community.

I've been on other thread for other devices when the links get pulled. The talk was the OP was told/PMed in advance, of the infraction. thus giving the OP an opportunity to fix, I'm not saying this happen this time. I believe the Mods are on the up and up and want the treads to continue with out any issues. I would imagine that their is often behind the scenes warnings.

Just Curious
Since skyics got closed for using dropbox.apk wouldn't the leaked roms be considered the same thing? It has apk files from the carriers in them that might have been updated and not released yet. I am just wondering how that works? I don't want to get in trouble for using something I'm not suppose to,

slydog72 said:
Since skyics got closed for using dropbox.apk wouldn't the leaked roms be considered the same thing? It has apk files from the carriers in them that might have been updated and not released yet. I am just wondering how that works? I don't want to get in trouble for using something I'm not suppose to,
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Click to collapse
I think it is more of an issue of it being on a device in which it was not meant for, and as a direct result, getting something (50Gb) that you were not otherwise able to get. If it was just a regular Dropbox.apk, it would be no big deal. The extra 50Gb promotion added to it is where the issue lies. It is a very slippery slope, though. In an open source dev community, I suppose it could be argued either way. It will come down to basic rules and judgement on a case by case basis, most likely. Like I said in the op, the same occurance with the Box.apk 50Gb promotion ported from the Nexus was never questioned, so I guess it can be labeled as a grey area and go either way.

Thanks
Thank you for clearing that up. I just didn't want to get in any trouble if the other apk files were illegal.

rebel1699 said:
I think it is more of an issue of it being on a device in which it was not meant for, and as a direct result, getting something (50Gb) that you were not otherwise able to get. If it was just a regular Dropbox.apk, it would be no big deal. The extra 50Gb promotion added to it is where the issue lies. It is a very slippery slope, though. In an open source dev community, I suppose it could be argued either way. It will come down to basic rules and judgement on a case by case basis, most likely. Like I said in the op, the same occurance with the Box.apk 50Gb promotion ported from the Nexus was never questioned, so I guess it can be labeled as a grey area and go either way.
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Click to collapse
This can definitely be argued either way... all of the "leaked" ICS roms can be considered stolen, as they are not "official" releases.
I think what's bothering me the most is that in the 4 months I've had my skyrocket, I honestly can't remember any involvement from a Mod, and now threads are locked everywhere. Makes ya scratch your head. (I don't say this to flame, it's just odd seeing a one-day heavy cleanup. To add to that... Sean has had drop box in his from for 2 weeks... why now?)
Edited: cause fat thumbs sumbited before I was ready! Lol!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using XDA

If it turns out the the folks at Dropbox are behind this, I will move to another cloud storage solution and close my Dropbox account.
There are too many other options available.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium

The issue is DropBox is a paid service, any free exploit is illegal.

ChillFactorz said:
The issue is DropBox is a paid service, any free exploit is illegal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it could very well be that Dropbox is forcing the hand of XDA on this one. In that case, XDA would indeed have to protect itself. I would imagine that Sean will have the opportunity to "clean" and re-release his rom. Otherwise, the threads would have been simply deleted. Just my opinion, though.

Since the 4.2F thread is back open, thanks to Sean and the mods for their fast work in getting things resolved. Back to Sky-Ics Bliss.