Microsoft To Work With Windows Phone 7 Jailbreakers 248
markass530 writes "Microsoft had a sit down with the first people to jailbreak their Windows Phone 7. Seems like good progress was made. This seems like a good approach to me. It would be great if Sony, Apple, Microsoft, and several Android phone makers would implement a simple development switch in their phones — these would obviously void the warranty, but it would give hackers the opportunity to actually own their devices without fear of having to jailbreak all over again whenever an update arrives."
Re:Voiding the warranty (Score:4, Funny)
No, they can not, at least not in the USA. The Magnuson-Moss warranty act prohibits it.
No it does not. The Magnuson-Moss warranty act [wikipedia.org] provides a framework for all warranties in the US. It covers general outlines. In the case of modifications, it says that manufacturers cannot outright void warranties based on the act of modification alone. The type of modification must be considered. Also manufacturers are expressly forbidden from tying agreements .
Suppose, I bought a new Honda and with a manufacturer's warranty and an agreement (with the dealership) of first year free oil changes. The dealer cannot void my warranty if I don't get all my oil changes from them or if you don't use genuine Honda parts during the oil changes. That kind of tying is not allowed.
However, the dealership is well within their rights not to service [dummies.com] any part for free that they didn't install or repair. Otherwise it would have absurd consequences. Anyone could modify anything and expect the manufacturer to service it regardless of what was done. If I installed new tint, that doesn't void my warranty or nullify the oil changes. If I installed a new aftermarket fuel injection system, that voids the warranty on the engine but not the body. That could also nullify my oil change agreement.
As has been pointed out already ad nauseam, you have a legal right to warranty hardware service on your iPhone whether you have jailbroken it or not. They might reasonably refuse you software service.
As other people have said ad nauseum, warranty coverage is not absolute even under the act you mentioned above. Do you expect Dell to service your computer because it has Linux driver issues with Slackware. Heck no. Apple may service a jailbroken iPhone but most likely they will charge for service since it will not be under warranty.