The " do " and " don't" of this forum

[Mr. Belvedere]

Welcome to the CdFreaks forum DVD Recorder & Home Entertainment.

Summary

This forum is intended to ask and answer topics regarding Standalone devices. This can be from your game console to your very own DVD Recorder connected to your television system.

Standalone

With standalone we mean things that actually can operate by , usually connecting them to a Home Cinema Surround Set or your television cable. This forum is NOT intented to place topics about your IDE dvd recorder or your usb powered harddisk.

Bioses , exploits , compiled programs and so forth

Regarding consoles such as the XBOX , most bioses are ILLEGAL. These are reversed engineered binary data files that can either be used to circumvent copy protection and/or open exploits on your console. So, don't ask for them. Ever.

Please remember we have seperate forums regarding firmware for your IDE and SCSI recorders.

Exploits CAN be legal ; In fact , most of them are. Think of all the nice exploits to make dvd players region free.

But some exploits on consoles and standalone devices require either technical aids (such as a special remote controller) or use reverse engineerd methods on other files (such as hacked savegames).

Pre-compiled programs can be very legitemate , but most of them require additional user license agreements. Most pre-compiled programs for consoles (such as XBOX media center) require that you have a legitemate version of compilers (such as Visual Studio .NET including the XBOX add-on).

It is NOT allowed to ask , redirect or post weblinks that point to illegal precompiled programs. In case of any doubt , the moderators reserve the right to edit your post(s) without asking.

We're not stupid and please don't test our patience in this by trying.


The thin line between legal and illegal

Remember that you as a topic poster can cross the very thin line between legitemate and illegal.

If you feel that your post may cross that thin line , better handle the post via Private Messaging. You can also ask the moderators , but remember that we're not a 24/7 helpdesk.


When does it become illegal ?

Thing become illegal if you ask for things that cannot be done without using an illegal method to accomplish that.That sounds very very lame and actually it IS very very lame.
There is however no 100% correct method to determine the border of legality. Use your common sense and follow the examples around the forums.

Examples :

It is NOT illegal to destroy your console , except when you're trying to destroy your school with it.

It is NOT illegal to open up your dvd player , but beware that all warranty will be void.

It is NOT illegal to install an(other) harddisk in your console , but your warranty will be void AND your console might be blacklisted on the internet.

It IS illegal to extract , reverse engineer and reflash the firmware or bios on your standalone device IF the original firmware content is copyright protected.

It is NOT illegal to create new programs for your standalone device , but it IS be illegal to offer pre-compiled programs.

It is NOT illegal to make a dvd player and/or recorder region free.

I'm confused !

It can be very very confusing to someone to decide either to post something or not. If you feel any doubt ask yourself this ;

"Could i be sued by the manufacturers if they read my post ?"

[CCRomeo]

It has been nearly 2 1/2 years since this has been updated. I will work when I get the chance.

Most of Mr. Belvedere's origional post is still valid today.