"I have no doubt that many, probably even most, modchip users purchase and use those products with the intention of pirating games but I take offense to those that are so ignorant to label any and all modders and hackers as criminal by association…"

I can relate to what this man is saying. I know, through Xbox Live, several hackers (who shall remain nameless) who love to find out creative ways to bypass some of Live's barriers. Although they are harmless, I don't doubt that they could get lumped in with pirates or hackers who do actual harm. Heck, I wouldn't be suprised if ICE banged on their doors next, simply for exploring the use of a system in ways Microsoft didn't intend.

This is the problem with anti-piracy efforts today. Not just that enforcement is overzealous, but also because the authorities tend to lump all the DCMA's violators together. This is the same strategy being used in the 'War on Terror,' and it hasn't gotten us anywhere. What makes the companies involved think it's a good idea. With people who just want to play region-free being treated like actual pirates, you're bound to turn people who respect copyright law against you. I'm not saying the former should be completely ignored, but clearly the latter causes more damage to the Big 3 of consoles. Thus, the true pirates should get a higher pirority than the people who just want to experiment.

The fact that Customs has higher pirorities than that has been said enough, so I'll just reiterate that if they're serious about apprehending pirates, they need to distinguish them from simple modders, so that that the innocent are not persucted as well. A good place to start would be to do away with the DCMA's vauge definitions and just put "distrubuting illegal copies" as the unambiguous barrier. This way, law enforcement can still go after pirates, people who use Xbox Media Center won't have SWAT crash through their house, and everybody will be happy.

So, Volcanman... If someone mugged you or broke into your house and stole all of your stuff, you wouldn't mind at all if the police totally ignored the crime so they could go out and catch serial killers and rapists instead? A crime is a crime.

Let's be realistic here. How many people do you all actually think buy mod chips for any reason other than to play pirated games? I'd be surprised if the percentage reached double digits.

@JQuilty

The thing is, I'm fairly sure that if you wanted to, you could use a PS3 version of Linux to circumvent copyright and region protections on DVDs, and possibly Blue Ray as well eventually. Which would set it roughly at the same place as mod chips and the tools for installing one in terms of copyright infringement.

Im still awaiting a raid on my place for my n64 toaster attachment i even have 2 pies in the fridge to throw at them when they come!assault with a sweet creamy delicious weapon ftw!

But honestly even tho i don't like the republicans playing up the whole "zomg illegals" card at least its well timed and shines negative light on the whole fascist corporations thing.I think that the only way this is going to be resolved is something bad happening like someone going to the extreme to save their livelihood or something.....lets hope i am wrong.

Very clear - I like it.

And Narcogen has a point about the smuggling and money-laundering charges: this whole mess is largely justified by these technicalities, which are caused because the DMCA is so vague.

"The concept of modding might be foreign to some but imagine if you will buying a car, taking it home and… Imagine modifying the car so that it ran on something other than gasoline, and… you’re all of a sudden a criminal…"

OUCH
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/599471.html

All together now: "No more Big Government"

This whole situation makes me sick.

@TK

The thing is, by the logic of "The only reason you modify your console is for piracy." then these guys ought to be arrested as well:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/03/linux-equipped-ps3-to-be-used-in-darp...

"I have no doubt that many, probably even most, modchip users purchase and use those products with the intention of pirating games"

What would you all think about a Modding License? You know, like a license to drive or carry a firearm. That would give legitimate modders an outlet to "expand their own knowledge and use of a system" and allow the powers that be breath easier knowing you're less likely to do anything illegal.


Andrew Eisen

@ Archgabe:

The key is "not cheating someone out of profit". They think that the only purpose of modding game consoles is to pirate games, which justifies their actions to them.

The way he said it, saying that modders are criminals that WILL pirate games is the same as saying general gamers are all sociopaths who WILL shoot up a public place. It's a way to simplify it so they can arrest anyone who is a deviant from "the norm"

Tell me this. If I go out and buy a system, do I not own the system? As long as i am not cheating someone out of profit, should I not be able to moddify the expirence of the system?

Basically when you buy a console from a store, you are just renting it from the company. That is how it is being thought of. They are basically saying "that system you paid us $499.99 for is still our property."

That is how I am viewing this. I can moddify my XBOX any way I want to inhance my expirence of it. As long as I am not stealing games or making copies to sell to friends, then I am doing nothing wrong.

(as a note: I am not a modder because I can figure out how to mod a console. If I did, I think I would.)

Yeah, this guy is dead on target. I personally am wondering if the raids will continue or if this was a one time thing. It will be interesting to see what develops and if seized computers will yield mod chip customer lists and further arrests/raids based on the lists.

Meanwhile, I live just outside of Philly where the murder rate is one of the highest in the country and the case solve rate is around 30%...

as I am so fond of saying: WTF!!!??


-MW