Jail Sentence for Bad Journalism (and Mod Chipping)

[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but games are not like books--books are in print and will be eventually re-printed, whereas a Sega Genesis game is obsolete and CANNOT BE BOUGHT becuase it is NO LONGER MADE!!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! I don't even think there even are any retail import stores in the Cleveland area.