Ok, I have never done a mod on anything and I am faced with the interest in the homebrew channel for the Wii.  I just want to try some of the homebrew things to see if they really work and if they are indeed any fun.  

A Few questions though.  

One, Is this illegal?  I do not want to try and steal software, I just want to try things like the DVD functionality and such.  

Second, could it in any way damage the Wii if all I am doing is softing modding it?  

Third, has anyone done this and like it?  What do you like about it and what is your favorite thing  about it?  

Fourth, is it really as easy as it looks?  

Any help would really be appreciated.

Thanks!

Yes it is illegal and yes, you'll damage your Wii as Nintendo is able to brick your Wii with firmware updates.

No its NOT illegal.

Firmware update could possibly brick your Wii.=\

Theres someone one this website who knows alot more I just dont remeber who it is.

Iv'e done it, it didn't brick my Wii.

I reccomend getting the homebrew channel so you don't have to load TP every time you want to load the hack.

It's really easy to do, it's not illegal since they don't use any nintendo code for the homebrew channel, then you have to question the leagality of every piece of software you run through it.

Emulators would not be illegal but ROM images are... Homebrew games programmed for it would not be illegal either, media players are legal too, (but the media you run might not be).

One great piece of software that you should run is ScummVM, software is legal and it lets you run your old point and click adventure games from your wii, with wiimote functionality. ;)

From what I've read and understood, it is not directly illegal, but if someone gets a program running for it that allows you to play burned/pirated games, you could do something illegal. I suppose it is also possible that your Wii could be bricked from an update, but I would hope Nintendo would look more into a way to forcefully remove it from your system instead of dealing with all the people they'd make upset with bricking systems.

I just decided to give it a try this past week. There are a few interesting and fun homebrew things to do, but a lot seem to still have minor issues/be in beta stages. It can still be fun to give it a try. I didn't find it hard and there are fairly comprehensive guides online that can explain how to do it. In case you didn't know, the homebrew applications are loaded onto the SD card, so if you don't currently have an SD card for your Wii, you'll need one in order to make much use of the channel.

I have a question, too. What do I need to install the Homebrew Channel on my Wii? Do I NEED Twilight Princess (because I don't own that game) or just an SD card?

You will need Twilight Princess.

Edit: I forgot earlier, it is also possible to get it installed without Twilight Princess if you have a modchip.