For anyone looking for GPLv3 explanations:

Posted Sep 24, 2006 23:10 UTC (Sun) by k8to (guest, #15413)
In reply to: For anyone looking for GPLv3 explanations: by sepreece
Parent article: Kernel developers' position on GPLv3

For the record, music players do regularly flash-upgrade the firmware.

One of the reasons flash was created was because to be able to create
high density programmable rom, which is not achivable via other methods
with the levels of density flash has achieved. It maybe possible to
create traditional roms with the density required, but there are massive
logistical problems that go along with non-programmable ROM in terms of
wasted parts, large runs being required, the cost of bugs, and so on.

I believe that the day of non-programmable rom has passed, and that this
is why free software ethics are now being applied to firmware, because
there is no longer the unchangeability issue that made the argument moot.