Modding/hacking devices or consoles legal or illegal

Ya, i know the title is alittle weird.



http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/08/04/wtf-college-student-faces-up-to-10-years-in-prison-for-modding-game-consoles/

http://www.gamespot.com/news/blogs/sidebar/909182374/26987952/console-modder-faces-up-to-10-years-in-prison.html


I came across the video and articles above. A college student who modded xboxs,ps3s,and wiis to make money was recently arrested is going on trial and it looks like he may face up to 10 years in jail. Do you believe what he did was wrong? Do you think modding is illegal? Do you think he should be charged, and if yes, the 10 years? Do you think the government has better things to be focusing on?

discuss.

The thing i dont get is how it appears he can get up to 10 years while murders have got off with less than 2 years before.

That's absolutely fucking retarded. He shouldn't get jail time. I was under the impression that doing that sort of thing just violated your warranty.

Yeah, just modding them doesn't deserve the jail time.
Now, if he sold pirated games, I could understand, but this is ust ridiculous.

That is the government for you doing everything ass backwards. Murderers get a slap on the wrist and everyone else gets the fucking book thrown at them.

From my point of view; He's about 50/50

Modding consoles isn't what I find wrong here. Many people mod the O.S. on their consoles for various reasons. Same goes for modding the outside of their console such as putting it in cases from different consoles like a P.S. in a Dreamcast case. Once you buy it then it is your property and you can do as you wish to it.

What I did find wrong is that he did or allowed other people to use pirated games on xbox live. This is a clear violation of the first portion of the Digital Millennium Copyrights act (D.M.C.R). This is pretty cut& dry from my perspective.

Well yes obviously he deserves to go to jail he's clearly breaking the law.



Yes, but he was selling the consoles so they could play pirated games which is just as bad.

Consoles are just as much copyright territory as games and movies so why would it be ok to sell moded consoles. Now I do think 10 years would be harsh, but ten years is the maximum for the two counts he was charged with. So the chances of him getting all that time are very low.



That’s a big problem and so it needs to be dealt with maybe not a harshly, but if we were to just let people pirate game’s and mod consoles then the video game industry would die. While a little excessive, piracy is a crime and he’s a criminal action should be taken.

What about other things people mod, such as cars.

Would the copy righted territory include them? As long as they just mod their console (in ways that don't break the law such as what I pointed out earlier) or mod the consoles of others in a similar manner I see no problem with it.

It deals with copyright infringement, and making a profit on a patented product. All be it 10 years is a bit harsh, it's rather stupid if you ask me. But then you have to factor it in, 1. he was modifying them so people could circumvent copyrights. 2. it is believed that he was making a profit doing so.

Also read a bit on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act what he was doing is illegal by standards of US Law. But when you think about it, he was stupid enough to get caught doing it.

I'm honestly more shocked at the people who are shocked at this. It's like being amazed that someone is being arrested for selling bootlegs of Funny People and Orphan (movies currently in theaters).

The guy clearly broke the law, and he's paying the price. Is it fair? Is it just? Should the government be wasting their time on this? The answer to all three is probably "Fuck no!" but that doesn't change the fact that the guy was breaking the law. Simple as that.

As for what Fpod asked, and what the title of this thread refers to, should modding things be illegal? No, not by itself. It's only when a person does something illegal, such as pirating movies or games, that the person should be punished. If I somehow modified my cell phone to pick up CB transmissions, that wouldn't be illegal, right? On the other hand, if I modified it to (illegally) pick up satellite radio stations, that'd be wrong.

[size=10]I'm not surprised. The government and the corporations love money then they do people.[/h]

From my point of view, if a person buys a PSP, it's OK. If a person creates his own mod and uses it, it's still acceptable. But if that same person distributes his mod to other PSP users, he is in violation and should be penalized. If that person uses a mod created by another user, it is illegal as well.

A product is your undisputable property once you buy it - the only thing that connects you to its makers is the warranty contract clause. They don't give a damn if you use your cellphone as a bomb timer or modding your PSP or unlocking your iPod, as long as you rip the warranty to shreds and you don't corrupt other people as well if you decide to mod/hack your device.

It's like making fake money - you can make many fake money, you can play with it and toy with it, but if your fake money gets into other peoples' wallets, it's bad. If you know you got fake money and still use it to buy groceries, it's illegal.

Same with mods.

I just took this around the room, my opinion changed.

I took the example, modding a car: If I take your car, and add a new bumper, manufactured by me; and you pay for it, then I am the original artist of this bumper--and free to distribute it without guilt or ramification.

But, modifying a program somebody else created--taking and using their work without paying--I could see as intellectual property theft.

I'll admit, I'm not huge on the idea--but if intellectual property is "sacred", I could see an argument towards it.

I do, however, think prison time is too harsh. I believe they should shut him down and, fine him, and prescribe community service, or something like that, to give him thinking time without getting his asshole reamed (literally).

I also wonder why the feds have time and energy to waste on this, rather than their "war" on drugs, among other things.

It's not so much that the guy was stealing another person's intellectual property; he was stealing games, which can easily be bought in a store. It's piracy. And it's not just that the guy was illegally getting games for himself, he was making money off of it by doing it for other people.

But the idea of intellectual property being stolen is a good topic. I'm not sure, but I believe that there are already ways of protecting one's personal ideas and such, through copyrights and trademarks. If I make a fantastic Firefox theme, for example, I could possibly copyright it, and if anybody used it without my permission, they would be breaking the law.

Modding consoles so it can read homebrew shouldn't be illegal. I bought the thing: I can do whatever I want with it. However, copying games/movies and playing them in a modded system is (and should stay) illegal. Console manufacturers don't lose money when people modify their systems in order to run homebrew on them. Quite the contrary: sales may in fact increase as the devices have added features. Companies lose money when people stop buying games and start copying/downloading them instead.

I don't think that it should be illegal to modify a device that you bought. I myself have a PSP that I modded myself, and most of my apps are to make up for shortcomings or missing features in the PSP itself:

-A homebrew picture/text reader that sorts by filename, and can browse directories other then the default image directory.
-A cheat engine for those tricky encounters, or games that I've beat before and want to have some fun with.
-A plugin to display my PSP screen output on my laptop monitor.
-Theme customization that allows much more flexibility then the default.

I will admit that I'm not an angel, I do download games and try them out too, although most of them no longer then a period of a day or two. Sometimes I try games that aren't available in my area (Hatsune Miku - Project Diva :D), and if I do find a game that I enjoy and want to continue playing, then I'll pick it up if I can afford it.

But the act of modifying the system alone? Definitely should not be illegal.

Well i don't think he should go to jail for 10 years, but i think he deserves to go for a while or get a fine for his stupidity, because there isn't a prob with modding consoles its just you aren't allowed to make a profit.(his mistake) There is a loop hole though in the fact that its alright to sell the hardware just not install it for a fee, but all-in-all it shouldn't be illegal but i digress.

Hell yeah it was illegal.... but who cares I personally would like to salute him for ripping of companies that sell very expensive game. As if the console was not expensive enough, I dont know about the other users but i come from a 3rd world country and ps3's are expensive here especially the games. But the law is the law, I understand that but you cant deprive us of enjoyment, because were resourceful :D

Cut that shit out, sometimes the law is wrong.

Just because the law is wrong or you disagree with it, doesn't mean you should ignore it. Just work to change it.

You can't blame the companies; they're just playing the game. Besides, games and consoles cost a lot of money to make. The companies need to be able to make back that money, and then some, so that they can continue to make games.



Very true. If you break any law (that you are aware of), you should do so knowing full well what may happen to you. This is why I get pissed off at potheads who get arrested and complain about it. They knew pot was illegal when they smoked/sold it, and they knew that they could be severely punished for it, so there's no reason to be surprised when it happens.

If a law is unfair, it is a citizen's job to work to get rid of the law or change it in such a way that it is not unfair. If that is not possible, then it is the person's job to leave the country with the unjust law.