Rather than responding with the piracy is bad mantra, the OP has a point to make.

I tend to agree with the OP that the design, material choices of the 360 was inherently flawed. Irrespective of the hack to play pirated games, it would have broken down due to.

Personally i bought the first batch of 360s - i didn't get a chance to experience the infamous RROD because my 360 was stolen before it had a chance to break down.

However, i took my time with the replacement because of reports of the RROD errors. So after a few years, i made the choice to buy a replacement unit only when Jasper came out with reports of better reliability.

Now, most people who buy these consoles are not as informed as i am - they don't lurk in forums and they don't read gaming industry news. When they bought the 360 mostly, they wouldn't have known about the RROD.. it would have been a toy, where most reasonable people would expect to not break through normal usage.

While i have chosen not to mod my console, the fact that the OP chose to mod does not effect the likelyhood of the RROD which was caused by its inherently flawed design.

A buyer of a console should not have to take into consideration the phrase "let the buyer beware" when purchasing a new console.

Having said that, i still fail to see the reason for the OPs whine, since the act of voiding the warranty was by choice.

OT: it isn't exactly stealing your car. It's more like someone stealing the design for your car. You still own the car. But yes it would suck none the less because people would be less likely recognise you as the creator of the car.

And you're right, one of the reasons why i don't pirate these days is the fact that you don't know where the proceeds of piracy might end up.. organised crime, terrorrists - who knows?