HI new to the board and had a rumkin question

[Andy Drainz]

i downloaded a torrent of a few games for my instinct. i was just wondering. how likely is it sprint find out im getting games this way and cuts off my service... is it at all possible?

[rappajohn]

I may not be 100% correct... I don't think Sprint would know, but it is possible the developer of the app/game could be notified of the install, but not necessarily any personal info.  Sprint would only know if they keep records of where everyone goes and what everyone downloads which seems unlikely to me.

As for the developer of the software being notified:
mobile phone applications consist of a .jar and optionally a .jad file.  As part of the infrastructure, there is a MIDlet-Install-Notify that can be used for tracking.  Basically, when the app/game is installed it goes to the URL listed for the MIDlet-Install-Notify.  I do not think personal information is transmitted, but they could transmit some info...

example of a .jad file (from Sun Developer "Introduction to OTA Application Provisioning" which has more details if you want to read):

JAD File:

Created-By: 1.3.1 (Sun Microsystems Inc.)
MIDlet-1: Colors, /icons/ColorChooser.png, example.chooser.Color
MIDlet-2: Properties, /icons/App.png, example.PropExample
MIDlet-3: Http, , example.http.HttpTest
MIDlet-4: FontTestlet, , example.fonts.FontTestlet
MIDlet-5: Stock, /icons/Stock.png, example.stock.StockMIDlet
MIDlet-6: Tickets, /icons/Auction.png, example.auction.TicketAuction
MIDlet-7: ManyBalls, /icons/ManyBalls.png, example.manyballs.ManyBalls
MIDlet-Description: Technical demonstration programs for MIDP
MIDlet-Jar-Size: 144445
MIDlet-Jar-URL: http://www.j2medeveloper.com:80/ota/demos.jar
MIDlet-Install-Notify:
http://www.j2medeveloper.com:80/ota/status?action=I&key=1234&user=abcd
MIDlet-Delete-Notify:
http://www.j2medeveloper.com:80/ota/status?action=D&key=1234&user=abcd
MIDlet-Delete-Confirm: Are you sure you want to delete the WTK demos?
MIDlet-Name: SunSamples - Demos
MIDlet-Vendor: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
MIDlet-Version: 1.0.3
Manifest-Version: 1.0

So this above would go to that URL in bold, and report the install w/ key and user to www.j2medeveloper.com - what I am unsure of is how key and user get populated (probably when the .jad is created if you download from a legitimate store it would have that website account info).  And also, nothing really stops a game from hitting HTTP URL in the background when you play it to send more info to the developer site.. but again probably just usage stats and no personal info.

Regardless though it is still technically illegal, so if you actually play the game it is good to purchase it, otherwise developers would have no reason to develop and thus nothing new would be made.

[SoulStrike]

These games are fairly cheap anyway, right? The ones I got were. Anyone know where to buy or if you even can buy games other than Sprint Store? Their inventory is kind of weak!