Update: Please see Microsoft Impersonator Sends Fraudulent Letters, Disrupts Community for the latest.

If you’ve enjoyed ports of Windows Mobile 6.5 on your device from cooked ROMs, then you better stick with it and not flash to something else. Microsoft has now thrown down the gauntlet, issuing legal notices to sites like XDA-Developers to pull down ported Windows Mobile 6.5 ROMs, according to Fuze Mobility.

The issue here is really a double edged sword. On one hand, Microsoft is protecting its intellectual property and its partners by shutting down cooked ROMs. One can conceivably argue that Microsoft is really protecting the consumer as well; cooked ROMs can cause havoc on devices and Microsoft said that the only Windows Mobile 6.5-ready hardware will bear the Start button. On the other hand, there are few people as passionate about Windows Mobile as other platforms, like the iPhone, BlackBerry with famed CrackBerry addicts, and Android. Communities like XDA-Developers breed passion through dedication as “ROM chefs” try to improve on what Microsoft and its partners do, offering tweaks, enhancements, and improved functionality of basic functions of released devices–in this case, HTC-made devices. Often times, ROM chefs will have a dedicated following and simple hack jobs will create brand loyalty for Windows Mobile.

What’s really at stake? So far only Windows Mobile 6.5 links have been taken down, but any version of Windows Mobile cooked over at XDA-Developers and similar sites may be at stake. I am not sure that the issue of piracy is as relevant here as it is with desktop programs; many will load cooked ROMs with OSes that aren’t designed for their hardware to see what it can do. However, many of those people will continue to upgrade hardware. Because of the upgrade pattern, Microsoft has mostly turned a blind eye to the issue, rarely posting legal notices. Is Microsoft’s latest action piracy protection or consumer protection?