Microsoft warns against Windows Phone 7 unlocking

Hot on the heels of the release of ChevronWP7, the Windows Phone 7 unlocking tool, Microsoft issued a statement to WinRumours warning users that straying to the dark side may have unintended consequences. While it's not surprising that Microsoft released a statement to the effect of please don't jailbreak your WP7 device, we concur with our sister-blog Engadget, in saying that big M doesn't sound too bothered about the whole thing. Here's what Microsoft had to say:

"We anticipated that people would attempt to unlock the phones and explore the underlying operating system. We encourage people to use their Windows Phone as supplied by the manufacturer to ensure the best possible user experience. Attempting to unlock a device could void the warranty, disable phone functionality, interrupt access to Windows Phone 7 services or render the phone permanently unusable."

While unlocking isn't that much of an issue for Microsoft at this stage, if that unlocking juice turns into piracy, then WP7 might have a problem. It's certainly not a given, and we're not suggesting that ChevronWP7 is in any way linked to app piracy, but unlocking is certainly the first step along the road. We may end up seeing Microsoft playing the same cat-and-mouse game with unlockers that Apple does with iOS, especially if developers come under fire from piracy and complain to Microsoft.

Microsoft warns against Windows Phone 7 unlocking originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 05:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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