Q: What would happen if illegal Firmware copies were used?
A: Optical drives are high-precision products. Usage environment and dispersion of parts characteristics will dramatically change performance. To absorb these dispersions and maintain the best performance, unique parameters are set up on every drive at each stage of production. Using illegal F/W copies may change these parameters. In such case, writing and reading performance could deteriorate, even though your drive works normally. We at NEC strongly urge you not to use such illegal copies.

Disk Drive Warranty Policy
Warranty services and technical support for the end users of NEC's disk drives are the responsibility of the distributor, wholesaler or retailer from which the unit was purchased unless the product documentation specifies that NEC supports the drive and is validated by NEC Corporation of America.

Purchasers of bare drives must obtain support from the distributor, wholesaler or retailer from which the unit was purchased.