By Some rather interesting news has come through the wire courtesy of the owner of HTCRuu.com. According to them, HTC contacted the owner in order to seize the domain and to remove all copyrighted HTC logos on it. The reasoning was simple — HTC felt users would get confused and mistake the website for a legitimate HTC site. Odd, that, considering HTC allows other domains containing its initials to live. The deeper issue seems to have been the the actual distribution of RUUs, or so says the lawyer who is overseeing this matter.
Even with the RUUs now being hosted on AndroidFiles.org, HTC is seeking to block the distribution of the files as they are said to be copyrighted works of HTC’s, and that they provide functionality which could potentially harm an unsuspecting user’s device. Their claims aren’t all that outlandish — that’s why we always tell you that you’re responsible for everything you do on your phone when you start messing around with files HTC intends to keep away from us.
All of this is within HTC’s right — we can’t fault the OEM for any of this. We’re just left wondering why HTC is suddenly taking such a cautious approach to an area they’ve always been so open about. HTC was one of the first manufacturers to create tools specifically for unlocking the bootloaders on its phones, and the company generally steer cleared of any community efforts surrounding its devices. Their stance dates back to the old WinMo days, so to see them get defensive about the RUUs all of a sudden is quite odd.
We’re sure the distribution of these files won’t die forever. The development community has a charming way of being able to bounce back from anything and knocking down any brick wall in its way. It’s unclear whether this particular episode was more about the HTC name and imagery than a desire to block after-market development.
We would hope the former is the case, but HTC’s threats against the hosting of its files on AndroidFiles.org has us in doubt. We’ll be looking to get a statement from HTC regarding their motives and actions, so be on the lookout for updates as we’ll provide them as soon as we hear anything. You can read the full email chain over at Reddit.
[via AndroidForums.com]
They are licensed by Apple… thus following in their footsteps. Rezound is probably the last HTC phone for me.
Apple sued a grocery store for using an apple in their logo that doesn’t even look like theirs >.> . HTC is in no way like Apple.
Wow your logic is so retarded. You shouldn’t get another HTC phone if you’re that stupid,
Dear HTC,
ProTip: Wasting money on ineffective lawyering a) isn’t helping your bottom line, and b) usually makes you look bad.
You’re right, Dude…
Maybe they’re trying to make a free buzz.
Edit : After reading this, I actually don’t think so : http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/176z3i/htc_demanding_i_take_down_ruus_and_even_my_custom/
RIP HTC
Well HTC are doing extremely well that having the support of this community is no longer needed lol HTC looks like things are about to get worse…one thing you should want is to have the xda type community behind you.
yikes if I didn’t have RUUs in my Thunderbolt days I would have been screwed like 78K times.
I sincerely hope they are going to thoroughly examine the Roms, revamp their Sense UI and add more “common sense” features !!
HTC trying to control it’s users… Lock them down… Where have I seen this before?? Oh yeah, Apple does that all day long. Stop being butthurt HTC
HTC is having a temper tantrum and they’re going down swinging.
What’s that? Your company is struggling in light of Samsung’s sweeping dominance in the smartphone market and your revenues keep going down quarter by quarter while you try to peddle phones lacking features that Android users clamor for such as expandable storage and removable batteries? Yeah, being hostile towards the all important modding and hacking community is sure to improve things for you.
Perhaps behavior such as this was a required part of that licensing deal they struck with apple. O.o
That’s a joke, fyi.
are you serious? another fail by HTC
That’s pretty much last straw for me, this will be my last HTC.
Too many errors on good ship HTC, she’s going down just a matter of time.
HTC not doing themselves any favours with this..
haaaaaaaaaa theres why theres something called htcdev.com i wonder if <<<<<<this site its gonna be the next one banned.
Could very well be a move that is a result of their recently making nice with Apple. If Apple cross-licensed patented features or functions, they very well may have made one of the terms a more tightly controlled system of development & updates. I really hope that isn’t the case, being an HTC user from the days when the name HTC was nowhere to be found, OEM’ing for Panasonic, UT Starcom & the good ole’ device that started it all, the xda & qtek devices. Unfortunately, HTC abandoned the good parts of the HTC Sense ecosystem & started trying to cram down our throats half-assed features like HTC Watch, which no one wanted or uses. I finally had to jump on the Samsung bandwagon I avoided & despised for so long. But Samsung is actually updating devices in the US, they have been expanding popular functions & adding new useful functions. I must hesitantly admit, that the Note 2 is the most useful business tool I have ever used, in spite of its plastic body & the asinine engineer that thought ity was a good idea to integrate the NFC chip in such a flimsy & easily damaged battery cover.
Used to LOVE HTC phones. This is the nail in the coffin. I was seriously doubtful I’d ever buy one again until they started getting their act together… and this is the reverse.
I believe this may have something to do with them not wanting any DMCA trouble than anything else.
GoodBye HTC, I won’t be buying your smartphones from now on!