Motorola’s been under heat lately regarding the locked bootloader that the Motorola Droid X will be shipping with. We learned a few days ago that the bootloader would be locked and encrypted to thwart off anyone attempting to load custom ROMs that have not been officially approved and signed by Motorola.

Lori Fraleigh explains on their blog why they did this:

“Securing the software on our handsets, thereby preventing a non-Motorola ROM image from being loaded, has been our common practice for many years. This practice is driven by a number of different business factors. When we do deviate from our normal practice, such as we did with the DROID, there is a specific business reason for doing so. We understand this can result in some confusion, and apologize for any frustration.”

Furthermore, Motorola recommends going with Google’s official developer phone (the Android Dev Phone 1 – aka the T-Mobile G1 or HTC Dream) or the Google Nexus One over Motorola’s offering if consumers would like a device to develop unofficial ROMs for. It’s Motorola’s right to deny developers a device that’s easily unlockable and crackable for those that want to tinker around with them, but I can’t see how this hurts the common consumer.

They state in their blog post that it’s intended only for consumers and android application developers, but it’s not like those consumers can just stumble onto the Android market and completely root their device, unlock it, and install a custom ROM without even knowing. People who do this are usually trying to, so take Motorola’s stance for what you will. For the time being, this device’s aftermarket fate is in the hands of Verizon and Motorola, and no one else will be given that privilege.

[via Android & Me]