Jail Sentence for Bad Journalism (and Mod Chipping)

[IntvGene]

From GamesIndustry.biz (http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=pub&aid=1502):

"A man found guilty of selling mod chips on his website (isonews.com) in breach of the draconian Digital Millenium Copyright Act has been sentenced to five months in prison, five months of home detention, three years of probation and a $28,500 fine. The sentence will send an extremely powerful message to anyone else involved in the production or sale of Xbox mod chips in the USA. Expect a lot of mod chip projects and websites to quietly disappear in the next few days."

That was their interpretation. But, does anyone really expect the mod chippers to run screaming from this? I don't think that this is a vicious sentence by any means. Of course, there are still problems for Microsoft in catching people outside of the U.S too. I don't expect mod chips to go away. I think they're here to stay.

[Sniderman]

A company wants to protect its legally-owned intellectual properties, and the article refers to it as "draconian." No friggin' bias in THAT report. :roll:

[bargora]

I had thought that the DMCA was generally regarded as a draconian law (in particular with regard to its anti-circumvention measures).

I mean, we already have copyright laws. The DMCA now criminalizes anything that would let you get around a copyright protection device and break the copyright laws. Similarly, we have laws against shooting people. But we haven't outlawed guns. I'd would have thought that it's more important to prevent people from being shot than to prevent people from downloading Britney Spears mp3s, but Congress was apparently convinced otherwise.

[Note: Please don't think that I'm inviting a gun control debate, because I just don't care.]

[Sniderman]

It's the journalist/reporter/editor in me. I just have a problem with an obviously biased adjective, ie, "draconian," "immoral," "evil," etc. in anything masquarading as a "news" piece. Adjectives like these are obviously the emotions of the writer showing through and are being thrown in solely to influence the reader.

Even if this law is viewed by "most" as "draconian," that does not mean by any stretch that it's viewed by everyone as such. I personally applaud the decision. But if I were to write a piece, it would be wrong of me to say "A man with criminal intentions and leanings was rightfully found guilty of selling mod chips on his obviously illegallwebsite (isonews.com) in breach of the accurate and just Digital Millenium Copyright Act..."

My long-winded point: Just present the information and keep the editorializing to the op-ed page.

[Cheese]

My moms doing 15-20 in Rahway for ripping the tags off her pillows.

[Bratwurst]

Mr. Snider, I think if anything the internet has encouraged yellow journalism for some reason, as if the editor middleman was cut. Besides this, I've noticed a lot of sloppiness in regards to spelling and grammar.

[Sniderman]

Yup. Still drives me insane though.

[bargora]

Ah, Sniderman. I see your point.

Now cover it with a hat! ;)

[rbudrick]

I wonder if one could go to jail for selling the mod chips that only allow playing of imports and not bootlegs/cdrs/dvdrs. Like a judge would really understand....hopefully he/she would try. Catch him/her on a bad day though, and off to the slammer!

And it is fucking draconian (and bad reporting too).

The gun argument is a very good one.

-Rob

[bargora]

I wonder if one could go to jail for selling the mod chips that only allow playing of imports and not bootlegs/cdrs/dvdrs. Like a judge would really understand....hopefully he/she would try. Catch him/her on a bad day though, and off to the slammer!

And it is fucking draconian (and bad reporting too).

The gun argument is a very good one.

-Rob
Glad you liked it. And your question about mods that only defeat regional lockouts is an interesting one. I wish I could say that it'd be no problem, but I'd bet that such a beast (something like the ST Key for Saturn) would still be considered an illegal circumvention device. Probably the logic would be because it allows playing of the (JP) game outside the licensed boundaries (on your North American deck).

But I'd also bet that playing the same disc on a NTSC JP machine in your North American living room, which would amount to the same thing (i.e., you enjoying a JP-only released game while sitting in North America) would be considered TOTALLY LEGAL, because the device doesn't "circumvent" any copyright protection. That is, until Sony pays the Congress to outlaw importing of JP PS2s...

[digitalpress]

Two quick notes.

1. I like seeing news items (whether they're viewed as such by the community here or not) on the forums, but remember to submit news to the DP main site ( http://www.digitpress.com/news/submit.php ) as well! These are great lead INS to the forum, not to mention that you get entered into our monthly drawing. :)

2. Also note that I sometimes editorialize news items on the front page as well. I know that somewhat cancels out the "news" aspect of it, but if you don't see things my way you're clearly wrong and shouldn't have an opinion. :)

[punkoffgirl]

I guess I'd still like an opportunity to understand why consoles have regional lock-outs in place anyway. It never made any sense to me. PAL and NTSC is one thing, but if that isn't an issue, then doesn't it just hurt the company itself in the long run? What's the point of releasing something in one region only?

[ManekiNeko]

"if you don't see things my way you're clearly wrong and shouldn't have an opinion."

Wow... you're starting to sound like one of these guys!

http://www.paleface.net/z/monkey/index.html

JR

[rbudrick]

My guess is companies like to keep their bottom lines for seperate branches seperate, as far as I know. When one company (Say, Sega of America) is losing money from people importing games (where SOJ makes the $, or yen :-D ) then it harms the others profit/revenue.

Any other ideas?

-Rob

[omnedon]

The DMCA is draconian and scary.

Before long, fixing your own hardware will be illegal too, as it cuts into the lucrative repair segment of SONY's operation.

Scary stuff. I guess voiding your warranty wasn't enough for them....

I have a modded Xbox, and ZERO copied games. None. But in the US I'd still be a criminal. IT"S INSANE! >:(

[rbudrick]

No Omnedon, you'd be fine! They don't go after the users, just the sellers of the chips LOL LOL LOL

Ahhhh.. bunch of assholes they are, I tells ya.

-Rob

[mauigamer]

Quick fact. 99 % of all purchased guns have never been involved in a non self defensed homicide. I doubt that 99% of all purchased mod chips have not been used for pirated material.

[bargora]

POG, back in November, Microsoft's hardware changes (in response to mod chip development) and (at the time) new policy of banning modded Xboxes from Xbox Live spurred a couple of discussions about this whole regional lockout thing. Dig through these threads for geelw, slapdash and kobunheatforum discussing why the companies do regional lockouts:

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2040&start=25&postdays=0&postorder=asc
(you can start with slapdash's post that's fourth from the bottom of the page)

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4178&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc

To by cynical, it appears that the companies are in business to make money, not to ensure that all the world's gamers get all the best games.

[bargora]

Quick fact. 99 % of all purchased guns have never been involved in a non self defensed homicide. I doubt that 99% of all purchased mod chips have not been used for pirated material.
Well, if you want to inject a numerical argument like that, I think you also need to say how many pirated games or mp3s equal one non-self-defense-related homicide. Surely you're not asserting that both are equally serious?

[ventrra]

I guess I'd still like an opportunity to understand why consoles have regional lock-outs in place anyway. It never made any sense to me. PAL and NTSC is one thing, but if that isn't an issue, then doesn't it just hurt the company itself in the long run? What's the point of releasing something in one region only?
It's seems even more bizarre when you realize that handhelds (except possibly the TurboExpress?) don't have any at all. ... Then again, not all realatively modern consoles have regional lock-outs either :hmm:

[rbudrick]

Well, if you want to inject a numerical argument like that, I think you also need to say how many pirated games or mp3s equal one non-self-defense-related homicide. Surely you're not asserting that both are equally serious?

Well considering the jail sentence, it's not a far cry, considering some homicide sentences are very short.

-Rob

[Eternal Champion]

This is all very interesting...
I don't understand what the X-Box was being modded FOR, but what about obsolete systems, ala GAMESX doing RGB mods?
I ask because aren't emulators of games on old systems illegal??
Why the hell would an emulation of NES, Genesis or SNES games be illegal? I understand video games are software, which is intellectual property, but games are not like books--books are in print and will be eventually re-printed, whereas a Sega Genesis game is obsolete and CANNOT BE BOUGHT becuase it is NO LONGER MADE!! Sure, the characters in a game may appear in another form, but it's NOT THE SAME GAME. I find this particularly strange. If PSIV for Genesis were still made I'd fucking buy it.

[omnedon]

Emulators are not illegal.
Copies of games you own are not illegal.

Stabbing people with a butter knife is illegal.
Having a potentially deadly butter knife is not illegal.

Think about this fellow classic games collectors- a time will come, when finding old CD based games in actual readable condition will be near impossible. In the future, the only kind of Playstation that will have any value to collector's will be ones that can play backed up copies. That is of course, if you actually want to play the games.

The DMCA makes it illegal for a collector to legally back up, and preserve his/her collection. It's a stab in the back to legal game collectors, and it boggles my mind that so many of you can't see it.

[Eternal Champion]

The DMCA makes it illegal for a collector to legally back up, and preserve his/her collection.

Do you mean burning a copy of a CD-based game?
I've always thought it would be reasonable if it were illegal to copy something--a CD, tape a record, a game--and SELL it, i.e, profiting from it. What you said I can believe, and that's just...over-doing it.

I assumed emulators were illegal because so many websites have a disclaimer saying they do not offer them and will ignore requests. So what is the deal with emulators, or is there no issue?

[Captain Wrong]

The only thing that pisses me off is the region thing. I understand why they do it; what's the point of getting a US publisher for a game if you can play the game from any region in the world on a US box. But what gets me though is games that have like zero chance of coming over here (DoDonPachi 3, for instance.) I'd gladly pay for a US copy of DDP3, but I see the chances of that happening as very little, so I gotta go the import route.

I just wish that these people who put out games that they have no intention of bringing stateside could make them region free or something. I'm a gamer, not a pirate. I have no interests in backups, and I think it's bullshit that I gotta be punished for wanting to play a game that they don't want to release here.

And then there's the homebrew/emulator thing. It just doesn't set well with me that they want to have controll over all software running on their console. Not that we're even talking unlicensed or pirated games here, just hobby stuff. It's like Sony telling me I can't play a CD of my band on their CD player because I made it at home.

[bargora]

Captain Wrong = 100% Right

Eternal Champion, read what omnedon said again. At this point in time, things have gotten weird so that it's probably legal to make a CD-R backup of your CD based game, but it's definitely illegal to mod chip your PSX so that it will read the CD-R backup.

It's like DMCA's Adventures in Wonderland.

[zmeston]

In a feeble attempt to sway this thread away from the done-to-death topics of piracy, backups, etc., it seems to me that the import scene has really died down with the current generation of hardware. I perceive it as a combination of two factors: 1) the current systems are quite difficult and very expensive to mod, and 2) most of the good stuff comes to the U.S. anyway. Is my perception wrong, and are import retailers doing as much biz as they ever have?

-- Z.

[CrazyImpmon]

I also agree it's a bit draconian. But I'd still rather have the mod chip around to play imports that would otherwise never be released in USA. Also I'd like to have a backup copies, nothing can last forever. Unless M$, Sony, or Nintendo can guarrantee a replacement game disk oh say 50 years in the future, bacup copy is often the only way to protect your game.

On the subject of illegal mod chip, would that mean simple things like a switch is illegal since it can be used to make GC play both USA and Japanese format. (Radio Shack better watch out) Or what about the Famicom adapter found in early NES games? Would that be illegal since it's a form of mod that lets you play games from different regions.

[zektor]

I dunno. I believe selling the console itself, already modified to play imports and/or backups, is and should be illegal. But selling just a mod chip? No, I don't agree it is an illegal act. Ok, the mod chip is designed to do what it does to an Xbox, but it is being sold stand alone...in my opinion as another product. People with the knowledge, need, and knowhow will be doing their own "upgrading". I mean, you can buy custom parts made by other companies to improve the performance on a Dodge vehicle, but does that give the right for Dodge to sue the manufacturer of these custom parts? Just a thought...

[Captain Wrong]

In a feeble attempt to sway this thread away from the done-to-death topics of piracy, backups, etc., it seems to me that the import scene has really died down with the current generation of hardware. I perceive it as a combination of two factors: 1) the current systems are quite difficult and very expensive to mod, and 2) most of the good stuff comes to the U.S. anyway. Is my perception wrong, and are import retailers doing as much biz as they ever have?

-- Z.

My guess is same as yours, little from 1, little from 2.

[mauigamer]

" Similarly, we have laws against shooting people. But we haven't outlawed guns"

I was just responding to your quote. Drunk driving is illegal but we dont ban alcohol, stabbing but dont ban knives, running red lights but not cars, burning down houses but not matches. I could go on and on. My point was that your logic did not make sense. Classic case of apples and oranges. My point was NOT that piracy is the same as murder. That was never stated and I dont' know how you could even deduce that from what was written.

[bargora]

" Similarly, we have laws against shooting people. But we haven't outlawed guns"

I was just responding to your quote. Drunk driving is illegal but we dont ban alcohol, stabbing but dont ban knives, running red lights but not cars, burning down houses but not matches. I could go on and on. My point was that your logic did not make sense. Classic case of apples and oranges. My point was NOT that piracy is the same as murder. That was never stated and I dont' know how you could even deduce that from what was written.
Merely a rhetorical flourish, my good man. So you threw in the numbers to demonstrate non-comparability, or the apples-and-oranges-ness of the two. I see what you mean, but tell it to the dead people. And if you want to bring the numbers, am I wrong that a gun kept in the home is more likely to cause injury to an inhabitant or guest than to an intruder?

Whatever, I'm not really against gun ownership. Anyway, it's all policy decisions by Congress that determine what gets banned. Which would seem to leave little room for good sense after the campaign donations are made.

And nice try, zmeston! LOL I don't even think there even are any retail import stores in the Cleveland area.