In reply to a post by smurf46:

It doesn't need to be put "in black and white". Its a common law principle...

That would be a perfect explanation if the intention was to steal the modem or otherwise deprive the owner (openreach) of it. The modem stays in the property and OR can have it whenever they want so this is not a question of 'common law'

In reply to a post by Alexir:

There's no dispute that the modem is the NTE and that it belongs to Openreach.

Surely you have therefore answered your own question. Isn't the answer to that obvious?

If you hired a car would you doubt that you were not allowed to alter the setup of the ECU?

If someone lends you a book, would you happily write margin notes in it?

It doesn't belong to you. You agree that. So that's the end of the matter.

Some of us load a hacked version of the firmware onto it. That is probably prohibited, but we can easily restore the original if challenged.

Others don't use it, and obtain their own VDSL2 routers. With varying degress of success, I might add! VDSL2 implementations seem to be far from standardised. Again, if challenged they can reattach the OR modem.

In reply to a post by Alexir:

In reply to a post by smurf46:

It doesn't need to be put "in black and white". Its a common law principle...

That would be a perfect explanation if the intention was to steal the modem or otherwise deprive the owner (openreach) of it. The modem stays in the property and OR can have it whenever they want so this is not a question of 'common law'

I suspect you didn't read the edit.

You can believe us, or you can take a sledge hammer to the Openreach modem and find out what happens

Have found plenty of docs that confirm what we have said, but not in the precise wording you seek. There is also the computer misuse act, which could be brought into play if Openreach really got annoyed with someone accessing the modem in a way it was not intended to be by consumers

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

It doesn't belong to you. You agree that. So that's the end of the matter

That sounds like the reply a harassed parent rather than someone hoping to add clarity to a question on a forum

There are two given facts here:
1) The modem belongs to Openreach
2) People can and do interfere with it regardless of any rules

OK now that's out of the way, back to the question. Regarding the legal position, does anyone have a link to any Ts&Cs saying the end user cannot interfere with the modem

I suggest you take a look at the Computer Misuse Act

Accessing a computer that you are not authorised to can result in a charge. That can be as simple as a provider not giving you the admin password to a device, and uploading different firmware would fall in that category.

Another option is to spend the night reading SINET to find the wording you seek

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

You can believe us, or you can take a sledge hammer to the Openreach modem and find out what happens

Have found plenty of docs that confirm what we have said, but not in the precise wording you seek. There is also the computer misuse act, which could be brought into play if Openreach really got annoyed with someone accessing the modem in a way it was not intended to be by consumers

Vague wording will suit for now if you have any instead of precise??? BTW if the modem was simply put in a drawer and the end user provided their own equipment, where would the Computer Misuse Act come into play?

Or that it belongs to openreach?

Or that it ever becomes the property of the customer?

Or what happens on termination of the contract?

Edited by deleted (Sat 21-Apr-12 19:57:48)

I am not a lawyer so cannot say for sure, it would most likely require a test case.

If you can be shown to have not damaged any kit, and Openreach could say uploading firmware that stops them updating a modem is akin to damaging their ability to control the network.

BT can be fairly tolerant, but if people push the case they can clamp down very hard with large teams of lawyers

Alexir- i The Moden provied is designed to work with GEA FTTC and which is why it is provdied to any one who buts a FTTC service from a Consuming CP -- which is why it is provied and installed by aon Openreach engineer