Chip a Playstation, Go to Jail

perogiex writes "A man in Ottawa was convicted of selling and installing mod chips out of his computer store. Sony is overjoyed, man is less than thrilled. This is the first time such a case was tried in Canada." From the article: Garby said he didn't know he was committing a crime and would have never gotten involved in selling mod chips if he had known the law. Update: 07/24 21:53 GMT by M : Headline corrected; it's clearly mod chips for the original Playstation, not the Playstation 2.

Comments

Selling 413 Pirated Games?

[dhaberx]

This guy was selling a line of 413 pirated games and didn't know what he was doing was illegal? It sounds like he deserves what he got.

Pirated Games

[LaNMaN2000]

The article states that he was selling pirated games alongside the mod chips. Maybe the charge of copyright infringement related to the illegal video games being sold (as Sony did not design the mod chips, it is unclear of whose copyright he would be violating).

Re:Ignorance is no excuse.

[Telastyn]

No, but putting a chip in a PS2 to play Japanese games isn't morally questionable, but just as illegal.

wait a second...

[denshi]

Does anyone know where to get the briefs for this case? One line in the article bothered me:

He was charged after an RCMP investigation found he was selling a line of 413 pirated video games and charging $30 to install "mod chips" in Sony PlayStation video game consoles.

....and then the rest of the article is grandstanding about mod chips from various, easily bribed parties. From first glance, this looks like they had a cut-and-dried case of copyright infringement because he was selling copied games (thus copying & deriving profit from such), but some groups are trying to cast this case into a ruling on mod chip legality -- which would be a much harder case to prosecute. Has anyone seen this case in detail?

Re:depressing

[Xaoswolf]

he was selling a line of 413 pirated video games

He wasn't just selling mod chips, he was also selling pirated games. Not sure if they would have just busted him for the mod chips or not though.

Slashdot is trolling you again.

[pb]

He was convicted of selling 413 pirated video games and Playstation mod-chips.
How do I know this? Well, first, I read the article; second, I know that there aren't 413 GAMES available for the Playstation 2!

Also, the PS/2 is a computer from IBM, and does not require mod chips to play pirated games. Sony doesn't call their Playstation 2 the PS/2, perhaps because they don't want to get sued. Does slashdot want to get sued? Well, it'd be nice to have some penalties for irresponsible journalism...
Finally, considering the facts of the case, it is disingenuous for the writers of this article to call it a conviction for selling mod-chips, since that wasn't all it was.

In conclusion, all you journalists are lazy, illiterate, and incompetent. If you don't agree with me, prove me wrong by writing something accurate, intelligent, or interesting.

Re:Chips or piracy (what a poor example)

[Sleepy]

>>selling mod chips shouldn't be illegal?!?!
>Do you also have a hacked cable box? It is theft of service.

You miss the point so badly:

If you OWN something, it's YOURS. Not only do you NOT have the right to take away people's freedom, but you also have no right to even KNOW what people do with their property.

I'll give you a quick lesson in right & wrong:

RIGHT: You decide to paint your car YOU OWN, a color other than what it was manufactured.

WRONG: You LEASE (or steal) a car, and repaint it without the owner's permission.

Then why do we have lawyers?

[MongooseCN]

If everyone is expected to know all the laws and what they mean, then why are there so many lawyers? Our law systems are so confusing and complex that we have to hire special people to interpret and find laws that will help defend us and prosecute others. So it's not suprising that someone might not know there's a new law saying something is illegal.

Re:Chips or piracy (what a poor example)

[AJWM]

If you OWN something, it's YOURS. Not only do you NOT have the right to take away people's freedom, but you also have no right to even KNOW what people do with their property.

Not that I disagree with your point at all, indeed I heartily agree. But try telling that to the BATF if, for example, you make a minor mechanical modification to a legally owned semi-automatic rifle that converts it to fully-automatic (ie a machine gun), or cut the barrel of your legally owned shotgun down to less than 18 inches.

If you thought DMCA enforcement was tough...

Re:Mod chips

[notNeilCasey]

It's cases like these that nudge public opinion in favor of DMCA-style bans on circumvention devices. This guy selling loads of pirated games and then the mod chips that allow people to play them is criminal activity that all of us anti-DMCA pro fair use people should recognize and identify as such. When people see headlines about "mod chips + piracy," they will often assume "mod chips = piracy," which will make them very susceptible to the rhetoric of the companies and individuals who benefit financially from that erroneous belief.

If we are going to be vocal on the unfairness of legal roadblocks to fair use in the cases dealing with DeCSS and proposed DRM legislation, we have a responsibility to be equivalently vocal in cases where technologies we advocate and claim rights to are being used illegally. If we want DeCSS to be legal despite its "side effect" of decrypting DVDs, we have to denounce those who exploit that side effect for illegal personal gain.

If we want mod chips to be a legal and accepted use of our own hardware for playing legally purchased Japanese games or burned backups of others we own, we have to speak against pirates who want to make money using mod chips and CD/DVD copying technology illegally.

Neil
"There are thousands of types of people in the world: The type of people who think there are two types of people in the world, and the thousands of other types."