&quot;First&quot; is a difficult claim to sustain. But Tivo is a better candidate for the most notable early one, as it was a major motivator for GPL v3. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Tivoization" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Tivoization</a>