Apple has always had an aggressive policy about what behaviors might void your warranty (not to mention the “bricked” iPhones of recent fame), and now what they have been saying is that Software Update (which automatically identifies and offers for download any updates to the OS or Apple software) won’t work. I think that’s the most likely scenario- a battle of wits with consumers who would adopt such a device.
Reminds me of the DirecTV anti-piracy move where the network was telling the STBs to fry cards that were counterfeit. Are you buying the hardware, or the service, and can they disable it if they suspect piracy/TOS violation?