Possible Duplicate:
I've rooted my phone. Now what? What do I gain from rooting?
Are there any risks to rooting a device?
Given that the new T-Mobile G2 based on Android 2.2 (and so called 4G network) attempts to address much of the reasons people rooted previous phones, is there any benefit to still find a way to root this phone?
Other than potentially voiding warranty, what are the legal implications (e.g., DCMA ban on technical workarounds)?
Rooting your phone, in and of itself, is not illegal (although, there have been some issues surrounding jailbreaking of iPhones...but that's a whole other discussion). Android as a platform is open source and installing a custom mod, or messing around with the internals of the operating system isn't a problem.
Now, as you pointed out in your comment to Bryan's post, there is some software that is licensed. As such, you are governed by the license that you agreed to for those applications (typically through purchase of the phone).
The real legal ramifications that come up would revolve around what it is that you do with your phone once it is rooted. Some would argue (and I don't necessarily agree) that using tethering with a rooted phone is illegal because you haven't paid for it (of course you have paid for the data...but...again, I digress). The phone service providers would most likely tell you its all illegal because they want to lock you in. By locking you in, they guarantee a revenue stream.
So, all-in-all, I don't particularly see a problem. However, I am not a lawyer, so I would ask one if you are truly concerned about the issue.
See my posts here on How to root your phone and You've rooted your phone. Now what?
In short: you will void your warranty. IANAL, but legally, it's your phone and you can do what you want with it, but the manufacturer can try to patch the holes that are used to root in order to prevent future rooting.
Other benefits: custom roms, overclocking, tethering, other root-only apps. And who is to say that you won't get Android 2.3 before a custom rom like Cyanogen does? With Cyanogen, you are guaranteed to get the next version of Android, whether tomorrow or two years down the road (look at G1s, for example), barring hardware capabilities.
