OC man charged with modifying video game consoles

Originally posted by jd140
Nope he is guilty regardless of why he modified his consoles. He could have modified it just to see if he could do it and be guilty.

This is coverd under The Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Here is what gets him fined or jail time. en.wikipedia.org...

Actually if all it was was a mod'ed box he can get off due to the exception in d-1-a and b here

He is a college kid and could argue that he was using it as a research project and to determine which game specifically applied to the project (ie. teen violence) he needed to determine which would be most acceptable and applicable in the classroom environment. The only stipulation in the law is a good faith determination by him as to how long he would retain the game before deciding he would then purchase it.

It's a legal loop hole but does work. There is also another law on the books can't remember specifically but if used for educational purposes there is no requirement to purchase the software but for continues use you need to get a yearly waiver from the owners attorney or the owner himself which I myself use to use in the classroom when I instructed. Every year I would get documentation that allowed me to show several discovery programs to students directly related to survival training just to be legal.

He did more than just mod a box if he's charged. If not there's about 3 million more people that would need to be jailed for this.

Is it possible that they are using this one individual to make an example of, a way of trying to deter this type of activity, or at least make others think twice before doing it?

If i remember correctly; modifying a console to play a "pirated" see backup copy of a game is the same way you modify it to play imported games.

reply to post by Darthorious


Good find.

I think paragraph 2 still makes it unlawful to provide services to modify the consoles. So if it is proven that he modified someone elses console then he still can be found guilty.

Keep in mind that I am not a lawyer and my interpetation could be extremely off base.

Originally posted by jd140
Probably easier to just put the game back into the case then it is to modify multiple consoles to play back ups.

Thats a good excuse, but not very likely.

There are plenty of examples of the consoles drive scratching the discs. It's a pretty common problem. The Xbox 360s first models were notoriously known for this.

Besides, it doesn't matter if you think it's a good excuse or if the consoles scratch the discs; a person is entitled to have a copy of a game/album/movie he or she owns - as long as it's strictly for personal use.

However, even though the article doesn't go in to detail, I suspect this person was mod'ing consoles for money.

reply to post by NoJoker13


I for one never use the original cd/dvd's when I play games. I make backup of the original and use that. The original then sits on bookshelf only to be used if the backup is broken, then I copy another one.

reply to post by converge


Off my back buddy, I said it was a good excuse but not very likely.

You pretty much said the same thing.

Stuff like that is all over the net, seriously.

Now here are the issues as I see it.

1) I am guessing that modifying the unit to use illegally copied/pirated games is a legal issue.

2) Depending on the video game system, check very closely, did you buy it or get a 99 year renewable lease for it???

I discovered this concept actually in dealing with DVR's.
The issue is they come with relatively small hard drives.
My thought, as many before me, was to replace the drive with a nice 2 terabyte drive for more storage.
Well, they know this and when the unit was purchased at Best Buy, a sticker on the box made it clear you were not purchasing the unit
You were leasing the unit.
The difference is anything you own, you can tell them to jump in a lake with whatever you do to it.

HOWEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you lease it, legally you don't own it and so can not modify it....


[edit on 8/4/2009 by mrmonsoon]

Originally posted by jd140
Off my back buddy, I said it was a good excuse but not very likely.

I see paranoia has already set in.

You pretty much said the same thing.

But with real life practical examples and more eloquence. No need to thank me, buddy.

reply to post by converge


Fine you said the same thing I said better then what I said.

Now you can stop acting like an a@@.

I wonder if they can sue me for modifying my console with a hammer?

The irony of this is that it was the chipping of the PS1 that helped Sony dominate the market and sell so many units. It can be argued that illegal mods were the major selling point of the console.

IRM

Originally posted by jd140
reply to post by Darthorious

 

Good find.

I think paragraph 2 still makes it unlawful to provide services to modify the consoles. So if it is proven that he modified someone elses console then he still can be found guilty.

Keep in mind that I am not a lawyer and my interpetation could be extremely off base.

That's kind of what I'm saying if you modify the box and charge for it your screwed if you get caught or reported.

Another good point someone brought up is it is illegal to modify it to play international games on. This I've known sense the original Nintendo was released because you couldn't legally purchase a Fiacom (I think that's what the Japanese version was called anyway) anywhere and couldn't legally purchase and play say a Japaneses game on a US counsel. As that breaks some kind of international law I believe although it was being done anyway just way way underground at that time.

I just happen to know that because I wanted to play FF-2 I think it was and it was released in Japan long before the US.

reply to post by Darthorious


Either way, he did something to catch someones attention and he got arrested. I'm sure we will find out what it was that he did.

He might have to pay a hefty price to since they found a few differant consoles in his house.

Originally posted by InfaRedMan
I wonder if they can sue me for modifying my console with a hammer?

The irony of this is that it was the chipping of the PS1 that helped Sony dominate the market and sell so many units. It can be argued that illegal mods were the major selling point of the console.

IRM

I'm not too sure there was much they could do about the chips in the US because they were being made in China, Taiwan and there was one made in Romania for a while but the company got raided and taken down which sucked because it was the cheapest and easiest installation chip available at the time.

But until now I have never heard of anything like it happening in the US.

Originally posted by jd140
reply to post by Darthorious

 

Either way, he did something to catch someones attention and he got arrested. I'm sure we will find out what it was that he did.

He might have to pay a hefty price to since they found a few differant consoles in his house.

No doubt if I haven't been arrested in the past for some of the stuff I use to do with video games then I just wonder what the heck he was doing.

Of course I never charged anyone for anything it was a more hey check this out I just changed the hex code in punch out to this new cool graphic animation. (Just using this as a stupid example not about to say what the good stuff was lol)

My brother modded his PS2 without any chip and showed me how he had done it along with doing it for other people he knew. So between the 2 of us and nothing ever coming of it in the past I have to assume there was monetary transactions taking place and a competitor ratted him out.

reply to post by Darthorious



The only modification I ever done was to my NES cartridges.

I would just crack open the case and switch out the chip with another.


Yea, I was a rebel.


[edit on 4-8-2009 by jd140]

For all of those posting that he violated the Millenium Act please quote the section he violated. I for one could not find any part that stated you could not upgrade the CD drive on a console to a better one. It makes no matter why he was doing it. There are multiple reasons people might want a modified CD drive on their consoles. Anything from trying to write their own games to playing burned but legally aquired music. It is not illegal to modify computers and upgrade their CD drives. A console is a PC only in simpler form.

I had a mod chip on my original Xbox.

It was great.

If you are only charging for labor then how have you done anything illegal? There is nothing illegal about modifying any eqipment that you have purchased out right.

reply to post by LeaderOfProgress


Unless like one poster suggested that you are only leasing the equipment not taking full ownership of it.

Which does bring up another point if it is only a lease and not ownership, shouldn't they replace all broken units without charge??