Hmmmmm... The HC1 does seem to have a shorter warranty than the A1s being that it's a consumer product.

Try to talk to an actual engineer there. Point out that there has been talk about the issue for about a year on DVInfo. Do it NICELY. Tell them you know it's past warranty but it's VERY important for your project and so if they could help you out with the firmware fix. It just might work. Tell them you will give a glowing account about how cool Sony was on the forum (which it WOULD be an ultimo act of coolness to do it post-warranty).

Most of the time they are used to people trying to yell at them, threaten them with lawyers and garbage like that. Sweet talk them. Sometimes pleading your case and regarding it as a favor will get you much more mileage. It's worth a try.

Otherwise, it's pay for the firmware upgrade, workaround the issue with White Balance and Color settings, or do the fixes in post.

Good luck!