Terms and conditions, IP and infringement
I agree that when I bought a PS3 that I bought the hardware on it, and licenced the firmware.
I, like many others, did not wade through the T's and C's and carefully consider the ramifications of all the clauses before I clicked on Accept. I wanted to use my machine.
It would be helpful for corporations such as Apple, Sony and Microsoft to include a summary as an introduction to the main body of text, which can be pages and pages of fine print which they know that most of their consumers will not read.
I think that it should be made a legal requirement to summarise any and all conditions which they impose which could possibly impinge on a customer's statutory rights; such as killing off all functionality with a remote kill switch at their discretion and without telling the consumer why.
If the firmware is truly licenced and can be taken back by the corporation from who I bought my electronic device at any time, then I would like that very important point to be noted right at the top of the pages and pages of text where I can see it straight away.
I would like to be told that I can take my device back to the store for a full refund if I do not agree to that term.
As for not mucking about with the firmware in any way whatsoever which might infringe on copyright or enable others to do so, well that's obvious.
If no copyright is being infringed however, no intent to infringe or actual infringement taking place at all...then nothing should come of any mucking around with the firmware.
It shouldn't be illegal or an infringement of copyright to look at code and point out flaws in it, so long as you are not intending to use that knowledge to infringe copyright or enable others to do so.