Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Australian Commisssion Defends Playstation Mod-Chipping

Posted by chrisd on from the region-coding-is-bad dept.

newt writes "The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is intervening in a court case to defend Sony Playstation owners' right to modify their consoles to play imported games. The ACCC is submitting a friend of the court brief, arguing that Sony's regional playback controls are unlawful. This has implications for DVD region zoning too: The ACCC has previously published its concerns about DVD regioning, and its latest press release about this case reiterates the problems presented to Australian consumers by Sony's practices."

12 of 287 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Finally some high up agency doing something by ryants · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I doubt it would ever happen in the United States, which would also mean it probably wouldn't ever happen in Canada either
    The real problem here (Canada), I believe (which is code for "I'm talking out of my ass, but it kind of makes sense, so bear with me") is that consumers are apathetic: except for a few tentacle Anime loving freaks, nobody here cares about region coding, because we're in Region 1, and get all the Hollywood flicks pretty cheap.

    In other regions, where the region coding is used as a price control (read: gouging), consumers are little more irrate. Hence government action.

    --

    Ryan T. Sammartino
    "Ancora imparo"

  2. Why? by gillbates · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The more I think about it, the more it seems that the United States is the only industrialized country which actively takes rights away from its own citizens.

    It would seem that the U.S. is no longer the defender of the free world - for a country which values freedom so much, we are doing less than others to protect it. Why is it that Australia, the EU, and Russia (yes, our former enemy) are going to bat to defend the liberties of individual citizens while our government is actively taking them away?

    I used to be proud to be an American.

    --
    The society for a thought-free internet welcomes you.
    1. Re:Why? by starduste · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm not sure of the other countries, but in Australia, we have no rights given to us in the Constitution. Therefore, we have hundreds of civil groups, telling us *why* it's important the government does not take away our freedom. On the other hand, in America, those groups simply claim that the government can't do that (whatever that may be) because of the Constitution - hence some people simply say "oh well, doesn't seem too important anyway". Because we are constantly told why it's important in Australia, we value those freedoms much more, and create a huge uproar when politicians try and take it away.

  3. Call me stupid, but... by lorcha · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... when I purchase a piece of hardware, can't I do whatever I want with it? Recognizing that it might void the warranty, of course...

    --
    "Avoid employing unlucky people - throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them." -- David Brent
    1. Re:Call me stupid, but... by eric_aka_scooter · · Score: 5, Funny

      Speak it, brother! How's that old geek saying go... "if you aren't voiding the warrenty, then you aren't even trying."

    2. Re:Call me stupid, but... by clark625 · · Score: 5

      Generally speaking, yes. You can take it completely apart, poke and prod all the bits, and otherwise reverse-engineer to your heart's content. The DMCA wasn't really intended to limit this type of behaviour. You won't find agents at your door because you took apart your PlayStation 2 or Xbox, or whatever. If you own it, you can do as you like.

      The sticky part comes when you publish (via the internet or otherwise) a direct method to circumvent any copy protections. It also gets more hairy when you offer to sell bits and pieces for what can circumvent those protections. If I produce a piece of equipment (with patents, copyrights, etc. over that), I should also have the expressed right over how I want to license 3rd party manufacturer's.

      You can buy a PS2 controller from other companies besides Sony. But Sony gets a piece of that product, because they own the machine that it is intended for. When we start to talk about mod chips, Sony doesn't see any of that. They haven't licensed these products, and it's quite likely that these manufacturers are using Sony's registered names and trademarks (I mean, they are called PS2 mod chips...). Also, mod chips allow for Sony to further lose control over their licensing by way of "3rd party" games in the form of piracy.

      Personally, I think Sony is stuck in a position where they can't win. If they don't go after these companies who sell mod chips, they risk losing their licenses, trademarks, etc. These things have to be protected. On the other hand, if they go after mod chip vendors, it looks like they are just being bullies.

      Of course, you still can do whatever you want to your own hardware in your own home. Sony doesn't really care to break down the doors of even those people who purchased a mod chip. It isn't in their interest--and the government doesn't give a darn (cause the burden of proof is high to get a search warrant). Heck, I have a DVD player in pieces in my basement because I'm curious how it works--but under no circumstance will that allow the manufacturer to come into my house to see if I've broken a copyright protection mechanism. Once I start selling chips, though.... all bets are off.

      --
      Long, cute, or funny Sigs are just another form of over compensation, used by geeks, nerdz, etc.
  4. Re:This mod chip... by bbk · · Score: 5, Informative

    A good description of (psx) mod chipping can be found here:

    http://www.vguys.com/modchip.htm

    Basically, modchips allow the console to boot discs from another region, by changing CD subcodes to a universal format. It makes it so that other region disks boot, with the side effect of allowing CD-R copies to be played. So it's a region and copy protection go around.

    Other consoles (Gamecube, Saturn) have simple switch mods that allow region changing, and some (Xbox, Gameboy color/advance) have no region checking.

    BBK

  5. Whats the point of region limitations anyway? by deviantonline · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I have never really understodd this. Why do video games and dvd's only play in certain parts of the world? What is the rationelle behind this?

    As far as I know, VHS can be played everywhere (pal/ntsc versions) and computer software isnt limited to specific regions, so why are DVDs and Video Games?

    Anything else limited this way? I can understand that diffrent countries have diffrent ratings and what not, but the fact that digital formats can block usage in diffrent regions of the world seems like a backwards thing to be doing in this time of freedom and what not.

    --

    spend money here

  6. Let's hope it snowballs... by Aexia · · Score: 5, Funny

    Of course, Australia has to beat the region controls first. Let's assume they do.

    I'm guessing the remedy would be to require players sold in Australia to be capable of playing all regions.

    This would result in Australian DVD players being exported to other countries. This gets done already but usually they require mods or they're expensive. But if you have a legit source of "official" DVD players, I think they'll prove popular.

    US DVD Player manufacturers will either see this as a threat(because people will buy Aussie DVD players instead of American ones) or as an extra cost of business(because they'll have to effectively produce two different types of the same players) and start lobbying for the right to produce region-free players here as well.

    ...

    Then Sony brings down the wrath of the WTO and crushes this newly gained freedom in Australia and the fantasy comes to an end.

  7. As altruistic as it seems... by Cruciform · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...we know the real reason behind it.

    The politicians can't get enough Hentai Dating Simulation games. Never underestimate the power of a school girl uniform and a 20 foot long penis-tentacle.

  8. Re:This mod chip... by 8string · · Score: 5, Informative

    Imagine if your car would only accept gasoline from your homestate (let's say California).

    When you take a vacation to Arizona, the gas is much, much cheaper, but alas won't run in your car because the signature chemical is missing. You have to buy special "California" gas at a premimum.

    Techincally, there's no difference between an AZ car and a CA car, except that artificial price controlling mechanisms have been put in both cars making the fuel from one state non-interchangable with the other. It's a way to create an artificial market and shut out competition.

    Do you get it now?

  9. DVD region encoding [only slightly OT] by bovril · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I wonder how long DVD region encoding would've lasted if it was the USofA that had to wait months for titles to be released (if at all)?

    I want my Hollywood revisionist history epics now, dammit!!!!

    --

    ---
    Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.