>>>>>on what hinges the "illicit" property of a fork for your definition ?
>>>
>>>Google asserts rights, individuals flout at will. Very difficult to combat once that starts- because laws and principles only can apply if the populace supports the compact. In the case of privacy, hackers who protect Joe Average from snoops are heroes and will be more so. It's already happening: e.g. a simple hack prevents Google tracking your movement because you accidentally confirmed you're OK with this default behavior.
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>>was under the impression you meant forks like cyanogen and others stemming from Android Open which are not done (usually) by the person loading the version onto his phone. As long as unlocking a phone during contract time is put aside, I have nothing on the radar which would make a fork of android (from creating and installing POV both) illicit - IANAL of course...
>
>I had an android tablet for a few days, and then seeing what sorts of operations require a google login, I just gave up on it (gave it to daughter, who uses it for free games only and keeps it in her kitchen - stuff that into your statistics, Google). If/when I buy next phone, it will be a model supported by Ubuntu. Until then, I'm quite happy with my Nokia E5... which I bought quickly when Microsoft installed their commissar there. Just like 2007 when I bought a laptop for my wife, quickly while it was still available in the not-yet-infected-with-the-vista color.

Android tablets strictly for home browsing, reading and a few games of the kids. Tried a couple of Metro/Wintel ones, but they were too clanky and I was too far into Android typical use that Metro behaviour felt uneasy - not saying it was a worse GUI.

E51 already in the house before MS sent the horse (which in the pre MS era was able not only to phone/text but also usable with Skype and Whatsapp) - a comm device you could put into a knife pocket

Also owning Motorola F5, which are about the most dumbed down mobile phones available. They are so dumb, they forget too be loaded more than twice each month, but they still continue to work ;-) Neccessary in areas where cameras are forbidden, and leaving traces only on NSA phone maps, nowhere else...