Wow! This conversation has really gone gang busters while I was away. As the OP I feel somewhat responsible to clarify some things. Most importantly are the distinctions between ASL, AGL, and ATOP (above take off point). My driveway sits at 4,637 ft ASL or 1413 meters. So obviously the Max Altitude restriction is not based on ASL. The information that has been posted about a true ceiling for the Mavic is interesting, but based on my experience, not a concern for me. The highest I'd be going is <7500 ft ASL, and so far I've found no noticeable impact on performance or flight time while flying above 6000 ft.
The real issue was the 500m ATOP restriction. I fully expect that the suggestion of driving to the top of the mountain and flying down would work...in theory. Unfortunately, I live on the closest road to the summit. Not to mention that the beauty of the Mavic is that it makes true Doc Brown's famous line, "Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads."
I'm very grateful for the info about not being able to land to reset the take off point. That saves me a lot of potential anguish. Though I think it should work since it adds a sensible impediment to those that might use unlimited altitude improperly.
Ultimately, it looks like it comes down to the exchange between tcope and Robbyg. Can the firmware be changed or circumvented, and if it could, given the potential harm it could do to dronedum (and humanity), would anyone do it?
