From: Fred Maxwell <rockbox_at_anti-spam.org>
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 13:11:30 -0500

> In which countries can you use that act... :-)

The United States -- where the majority of Archos units have been sold. ;-)

> Archos could claim that the scramble of the code is to
> prevent people from using uncertified software.

And Volvo could claim that they used non-standard sized oil filters to
prevent people from using "uncertified" oil filters. Would that mean that
they could refuse to perform warranty service because you used an
aftermarket filter?

> > So, they would have to show that the firmware caused a failure.
>
> Yep, that is true. And if so they can force you to pay their
> invistigation (at least by swedish laws).

Only if the investigation did prove that they were not liable. If they
"investigated" and found that the failure was not your fault, you would owe
nothing.

> I don't think Archos has any hidden flashed functions that
> they can use for debugging a unit, but if they have and you
> removed them then I would be quite angry if I was an archos
> technichan.

Okay, so he's angry. He can get over it. It's not the consumers' job to
store diagnostic tools for a technician.

> If the software destroyed the computer they can. You can't
> run around flashing the bios with anything found on internet
> just for fun can you?

Yes, you can. And if the firmware you loaded caused the unit to fail, then
you will have to pay to fix it. But it's wrong to say that you completely
"void the warranty" simply by flashing new firmware.

Regards,
  Fred Maxwell
Received on 2003-11-27