[Galaxy Note II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] _delice_doluca_:
Since we can think every 3rd party software as it is able to be considered together with the main software of the device and also exdends the capabilities of it we have to find another way to determine the difference. This way is to take the developers (or creaters let's say) into account. When Apple sued jailbreak, US court decided people had any right to do with their handsets because iOS software was not to be considered seperately from iDevices so people are free to modify it as they wish. This decision gives us a good perspective of "haking" and "modifying"

For example Microsoft can be defined seperately from your computer. Your PC would be still a PC without a Windows on it. So MS has right to sell it seperately or sue you if you crack it. No one says "I am buying a Windows laptop", people say "I am buying a Asus laptop". But when you buy your phone you say "I am buying an Android phone". This defines the "Android" together with the "phone". So as long as you buy the phone, you buy the "Android" with it and you have every right to modify it within the laws because that is what manufacturers do excatly. You have more right to modifiy it than them because you pay money for the device, they don't! And yet they give you broken software (maybe intentionally, maybe Samsung is collecting info from the memory bug and selling them?)

For a 3rd party app/game which you have to pay "to another creator" to have you have no rights on it (because if you remove the software from your phone, it is still considered as an Android phone working with the features you have been promised)! You do NOT even have anything to claim on the updates. Just because you have Photoshop 3 it doesn't mean you will have PS 5 for free. They are considered seperate softwares from the same "maker". Getting free updates is something that the "creator" of the saftware agreed on to give you more in order to take more from you ;) Google gives you updated software so you can buy your very expensive phone by believeing you can use it for a certain amount of time. Or you can buy an Android phone instead of Apple phone or Windows Phone.

About the "new or modified software can prevent you buying a 3rd party app which as that thing as a feature"; this is a matter of preference. You can say "I have already a keyboard on my device, no need to buy another one", or you can also say "Hey I can theme this keyboard as red and it has a better prediction than the stock one" and buy it. For a long time many features have been getting included by many firmwares and it is OK I believe because this time we have to seperate and define the softwares as "games/apps" and "feature adders".

BTW;

I personaly use hacked/cracked software because my country does not allow me to view every content on Google Play and I also have to pay more than anyone on the earth for a device. In Turkey Galaxy Note 2 16 Gb is sold for 1025$ (veries between 1100-1000 actually). I don't think there is a more expensive one in the world. That's my excuse as a student who gets 750$ a month. Once I move to another country or get a good job I will start by supporting the CM team then buy the games.

But although this is my way of "balancing" (I consider myself already paid for the next 100 games by just buying the phone for that price) things or giving a reaction to unfair taxes I believe in supporting the devs. Because so called "big" compaines are NOT even able to support our devices as developers/app makers/game makers are doing here. Samsung is a big fat lier for example. They give us broken firmwares and breake their promises. If it wasn't for the CM team, for example, Galaxy S would be long dead by now.