This disgusts me, not sure but it feels illegal to me...
...Imagine if you bought a new IBM laptop with Linux on it. IBM offers a warranty on the parts for 3 years but only if you continue to use the manufacturer provided operating system. However, you decide to put Vista on the laptop. So one day your hard drive goes out and IBM could say "Vista caused the drive to fail because the OS was too hard on the drive." I know it's not a great example but you can see a bit of similarity.
It's your laptop\truck and you should be able to use it as you see fit. Where this falls down is when guys load up the Edge hot unlock and blow out their TQ. They put the truck back to stock and ask Dodge to fix it ... No, you wanna play, you've gotta pay (when it breaks). So when you think about Dodge tracking the # of flashes to the ECM, it makes sense. They are trying to see if you are flashing, returning to stock and then bringing it back to them to fix. In this scenario, they are within their rights to void your warranty based on the terms and conditions it sets forth.
What I'd like to see is a clear deliniation between warrantied systems - body, chassis, motor, drivetrain. You decide to flash the ECM and turn your truck into a fast and furious 4x4, fine ... the motor and drivetrain warranties are void. However, the remaining warranties would stay in tact. A few dealers work this way and use their own judgement when making warranty claims on modded trucks, most do not.
I've been patiently waiting and watching the developments of H&S, BADP, Edge, etc in the hopes of helping to *improve* the life of my Cummins, not shorten it. For Dodge to disable MY $45k truck rending it useless when\if I use a programmer is no different than planting a virus in my laptop without my knowledge. Dodge has an
obligation to disclose to us, the consumer, of any and all programmatic changes to the ECM that could render the truck inoperable. At that time, I can chose to not accept their new flash and be on my way.
Just my .05 cents worth.
Mike