this is sort of an oldie....but yes, i agree....and if you own a game, should you be allowed to back it up onto your hard drive or make another copy of it? YES! you SHOULD be able to...but in this thread, i was just stating the fact that under the dmca, it is technically illegal to copy games (even if you own them, because the games were made in a format not meant to be copied) and also if you make it so that your xbox can play backup games, that is illegal too (even if you use nothing but retail discs in it, the potential is there making it illegal under the dmca).
as for the whole dvd not working making modding legal issue....i was lead to believe that once the dvd drive does not work, then the product is either through its standard consumer use life (aka you should throw it out), or needs to be repaired by an ms certified person/business. not doing this will void the warranty, why? because it's illegal. as far as going into a store and buying an xbox and assuming it will work like an xbox, that's what a warranty is for. if you buy it and it stops working before a reasonable amount of time, you bring it back and they'll fix it. (well in theory anyways...ms is a little underhanded about this aspect)
again, don't get me wrong, if i were you i'd go right ahead and mod my xbox (heck, my dvd drive still works and mine is modded and packing a 120 gig hd) but it's still TECHNICALLY illegal.