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Student faces up to 10 years for Xbox modding!

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Post #1 · Posted at 2009-08-15 11:26:07am 14.6 years ago

Offline Nightime
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"ARR JOO LEADY??"
Full story available here.

If games weren't region-specific releases, people wouldn't have to mod for that purpose (which is where it begins). Of course, anything made to boot games around the region-checking also does so over the format-checking (this is how that works, btw), which in turn, allows gamers to play pirated/burned games, as well.

So, since they've gone to all that expense and trouble to set it up already, eventually game piracy is *usually* what that kind of thing leads to.

The modding in and of itself DOES have a consequence, both the invalidation for XBL, for instance, and it voids any warranty the console hardware may have. Somebody simply doing the modding shouldn't face time.

HOWEVER, if they were ALSO copying and distributing pirated software as part of their trade, then they SHOULD be penalized for THAT. As a person who enjoys the alternative flavors of imported DDR titles for my PS2, I can see how the issue can get easily misdirected. ~.o

I've never heard of anybody needing to modify a CD player to play foreign music, or a computer to view foreign websites before. But gaming hardware is something usually different in this respect... and why?

What do you think of the concept of modifying gaming consoles for imported titles, or gaming piracy? On a legal level, that is...

(I figure this of all places would be an interesting spot for this discussion.)
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Post #2 · Posted at 2009-08-15 11:40:52am 14.6 years ago

Offline Pandemonium X
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EDIT: If he was selling games/systems, yes. If he was just playing them, no.

But here's my question, I see imported games for sell all the time. Are they illegal?

Post #3 · Posted at 2009-08-15 12:09:41pm 14.6 years ago

Offline Arctic Wolves
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Financial gain. Story over. When you sell pirated things, it's instantly bad mojo. The problem isn't his modification, it's the modification to break copyright with intent to sell.
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Post #4 · Posted at 2009-08-15 12:24:16pm 14.6 years ago

Offline neothe0ne
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Quote: Pandemonium X
EDIT: If he was selling games/systems, yes. If he was just playing them, no.

But here's my question, I see imported games for sell all the time. Are they illegal?

Sony would like you to think so. See the PSP and Lik-sang, and the fact that region coding still exists in Blu-Ray when HD-DVD did not do it.

(in reality importing is not really illegal. if Amazon.co.jp will ship it to you, you're fine.)

Post #5 · Posted at 2009-08-15 01:22:07pm 14.6 years ago

Offline Nightime
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Like I said, if he were distrubuting the wares, then yeah, I can see your point. But this guy provides a service to others that most people don't do themselves. There's no reason he shouldn't benefit SOME from it. That's like saying banks are responsible for bank robberies. Either way, it looks to me like the laws meant originally to protect ordinary people from financial powerhouses have been overturned, in order to protect financial powerhouses from ordinary people.

Up to 10 years is still WAY too severe, in any case. I've seen vehicular manslaughter cases with lesser punishment than that. And I see nothing illegal about importing entertainment... unless maybe it's in the form of "a person." And even -that- has a couple of workarounds, I hear. Happy
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Post #6 · Posted at 2009-08-15 01:28:27pm 14.6 years ago

Offline Pandemonium X
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Quote: Nightime
Up to 10 years is still WAY too severe,
For something like this, yes. 10 years is a bit much. but then again, some guy in my area was drinking and driving and killed someone and is getting 2 months jail time.Confused

Post #7 · Posted at 2009-08-15 01:46:26pm 14.6 years ago

Offline Nightime
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Quote: Pandemonium X
Quote: Nightime
Up to 10 years is still WAY too severe,
For something like this, yes. 10 years is a bit much. but then again, some guy in my area was drinking and driving and killed someone and is getting 2 months jail time.Confused

EXACTLY. What kind of shit is THAT?

"Legally important logistics of drunk driving accidents:"

-Encourages people to stay home more, buy more stuff.
-Higher tolerance and higher anxiety means more alcohol sales. And car insurance sales. Medical insurance premiums, too.
-Maybe more cars will sell, too.
-Graveyards turn a buck, as well.
-Getting this loser out of jail quicker/more often, with no major consequence = exponentially increasing effect.

But you cut into a powerhouse's POTENTIAL bottom line, for idle fear of misuse, and that's grounds for treason-level felony? Fuck that. These supposedly "mature adults" need to get their priorities straight. Life > Money, any day.
https://i.imgur.com/C2il3tl.png

Post #8 · Posted at 2009-08-15 01:50:13pm 14.6 years ago

Offline Arctic Wolves
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Quote: Nightime
That's like saying banks are responsible for bank robberies.

No, it's not at all. This analogy doesn't even make any sense.
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Post #9 · Posted at 2009-08-15 01:52:22pm 14.6 years ago

Offline Nightime
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Quote: Arctic Wolves
Quote: Nightime
That's like saying computer companies are responsible for hackers.

No, it's not at all. This analogy doesn't even make any sense.

Is that better?

IE: The computer (or in this case, the modded console) is nothing but an inanimate tool. The crime (software piracy) CAN result of it's misuse, but that doesn't guarantee that such is the case. Some people just want to play titles that aren't otherwise available to them. Modding shouldn't be a necessary step, and thankfully, the more modern systems appear to be drifting in that direction... but for the lesser-enabled, it still is.
https://i.imgur.com/C2il3tl.png

Post #10 · Posted at 2009-08-15 01:58:22pm 14.6 years ago

Offline Arctic Wolves
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The crime is a misuse of the device. It can lead to further misuse but the initial act already qualifies as one.
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Post #11 · Posted at 2009-08-15 02:13:35pm 14.6 years ago

Offline Nightime
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So the use of a Magic Slide, for instance, is a misuse of the Playstation 2, even if it's only being used to play an imported title, not a pirated one? o.o

That would only be so if Sony still owned my PS2, which they do not. I bought it, I own it. If they want to revoke certain things like the warranty/liability of it's parts, that's fine, and completely within their jurisdiction to do so.
https://i.imgur.com/C2il3tl.png

Post #12 · Posted at 2009-08-15 06:26:33pm 14.6 years ago

Offline Oni-91
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“Playing with games in this way is not a game -- it is criminal,” said Robert Schoch, special agent in charge of the ICE investigations office in Los Angeles.
I bet he feels REALLY smug with himself for saying that.
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Post #13 · Posted at 2009-08-15 11:34:52pm 14.6 years ago

Offline KKiONI
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Quote: Pandemonium X
Quote: Nightime
Up to 10 years is still WAY too severe,
For something like this, yes. 10 years is a bit much. but then again, some guy in my area was drinking and driving and killed someone and is getting 2 months jail time.Confused
That really doesn't make sense. Those jail times should be switched around. Then that would make sense.

Post #14 · Posted at 2009-08-15 11:47:19pm 14.6 years ago

Offline Arctic Wolves
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Quote: Nightime
So the use of a Magic Slide, for instance, is a misuse of the Playstation 2, even if it's only being used to play an imported title, not a pirated one? o.o

Irrelevant; that's not what he was doing. He was modifying the consoles, not selling a third party product like Swap Magic. Swap Magic is clearly legal under the (absolutely draconian) DMCA; modding is not (though it is not immediately illegal). He hasn't been convicted of anything yet, but he was running a business of modifying Sony's IP and profiting from it, which is where he ran into trouble. It's not a problem if you want to play games and you go out and buy a modded console or mod it yourself and play it; no one will find out and probably won't care.

The case could go either way now, there's not really any solid legal precedent for this sort of thing.
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