Are the Days of Rooting Android Phones Coming to an End?

[furbearingmammal]

Question: Could a class-action lawsuit be filed saying that by preventing us from jailbreaking/rooting our devices with encryption and not allowing, even at EOL, the keys to be known or giving us the ability to unlock said encryption they are denying us full usability of our devices? If it's legal should it not be possible?

[Droid-Xer]

Im sure there's something in the contract we sign preventing any type of class action suit. Although, those that pay full price for their devices should have the ability to do whatever they want with them.

[furbearingmammal]

That's the ticket right there -- or at least as long as there's a warranty on it.

[Dorian]

Question: Could a class-action lawsuit be filed saying that by preventing us from jailbreaking/rooting our devices with encryption and not allowing, even at EOL, the keys to be known or giving us the ability to unlock said encryption they are denying us full usability of our devices? If it's legal should it not be possible?

One would think. I thought they would make keys for the OG Droid available after it's EOL... WRONG. Honestly, if the Xoom hadn't been Google's launch device for Honeycomb, Moto would have never offered the whole unlockable bootloader feature to begin with.

[Droid-Xer]

I only picked up the XOOM cuz it is a Google test device. I like Motorola build quality but if was locked down, then I would've waited or picked up a gtab

[alostpacket]

Im sure there's something in the contract we sign preventing any type of class action suit. Although, those that pay full price for their devices should have the ability to do whatever they want with them.

That would never hold in court if there is a clause like that in a contract. Certain rights can't be signed away. They can have you sign stuff agreeing to binding arbitration in their jurisdiction of choice but even that doesn't hold all the time. If an entire "class" of people have grounds to sue though, this doesn't apply. At least that's as far as I understand it. But it might just be that I watched too much Law & Order on TV as a kid.

[furbearingmammal]

If Verizon or Motorola, etc, is based in Texas then no, they can't make us sign away our rights to sue. That was already tested with a suit against a software company in regards to a game being "too addictive". And I believe the plaintiff won.