I also use the Sony hd100 for OTA HD only (No Dish). I don't know the "official" answer, but it is my experience that the patches resolved one or two issues.
The patches, as you know, are delivered by Sat twice per day. I arranged with my dealer here in Dallas, to let me hook up my receiver to their dish over night ( In fact it was a Mits. dish). No registration was necessary, just a valid signal.
When I retrieved the receiver the next day, all three patches where there. I asked Sony's help desk, why can't the unit use the modem to download updates? They said that "What a good Idea, maybe someday."
My only problem now with my receiver, other than the load fan, is that it will not display any PSIP info sent OTA and from time-to-time the receiver will lockup and not respond to the remote. Several of the local Dallas stations have some PSIP now.
Enjoy.