I believe flashcarts themselves are not illegal, it's just what you have on it and use it for. For example, you could just be using your flashcart for homebrew, to listen to legal music you have bought or watch legal films you have bought.

 

they are not illegal. Its similar to a DVD recorder. Its legal to buy but you can do illegal thinks with it. Flashcarts are legal because they are sold as media devices. Such as an Ipod, Zune, Etc.

 

Actually, Flashcarts violate almost every patent law. But more or less, it's not like they're going to hunt you down. There's one specific clause that says that: any device the tries to simulate/emulate a certain function of another device is a violation of the patent law. Good thing in Canada, the law isn't too harsh, I'm still researching this anyway.