Slashdot Mirror
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.
according to the article, he sold "a line of 413 pirated video games" -- that's a little more than just selling modchips.
dennis
was it the mod chips they got him on, or the line of 413 pirated video games that he was selling the reason for his downfall?
i wouldn't have thought the mod chip selling was illegal, seeing how they're selling all over the place. does anyone have any more detail?
He was selling pirated games too, for something like $10 a pop.
Maybe the mod chip I can see, but "gee I didn't know hit was illegal to burn that disc." Yeah, right.
MJC
I really wish slashdot editors would do a piece of their homework. Look, the guy was selling copies of games thru his store. He had 413 different rom images in stock. Oh, and he was installing mod chips for 30$ too, but I'm sure that's now how he grossed 300,000$.
Phase 1: Mod chips
Phase 2: ?
Phase 3: PROFIT
(except here it actually worked)
Feel free to mod this down, this now common comment is actually getting pretty old, and i'm just trying to overdo it so it's not funny anymore.
The /. version of this says he was convicted of selling and installing mod chips, but makes no mention of the pirated video games he was also selling. Since the original story is often unavailable moments after a slashdot article goes up, this was truly a disservice to the readers. The story gives no clear indication of what the hoser was really convicted of, the mod chip or the illegal copyrighted software, but I expect there would have been a lot more trouble of getting a conviction without the illegal software. For that matter, the guy was only fined 17k and giver a year of probation after selling (at least) 30k of illegal software, doesn't sound like he made out too bad or that this will seriously curtail the piracy issue.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
While the actual official reasons are a little different, he was busted for what he knew he was doing that was wrong: ripping off games and using a mod chip, then selling the chips so that everyone else could do the same. I actually commend them for coming up with an interesting way to get him into jail using existing laws!
Okay, this has probably been said already on this board, yet I'm just sick and tired of going through so many lines of whining and crap that say, "Hey, we can't develop now," or, "This isn't fair -- he shouldn't be fined, it's wrong, wrong, wrong, I wanna put a mod-chip in my PS2, I wanna bunch of free games too, waah!"
Listen, kids, let's put this into a perspective you might be able to understand, okay? Let's say you put together a little book describing how much fun you had at your little sister's tea-party. Now, you spend your allowance money putting the books together, distributing them, paying your classmates who did pretty little drawings on each page, and promoting it by standing out in the hall wearing a tiny pink t-shirt that says, "Buy my book." And boy, was that t-shirt expensive.
Now, some other kid comes in and buys one of your books, takes it to a photocopier, and starts whipping off copies of the books, little pictures and all. Then, he goes to all your friends and says, "Hey, you can have this book cheaper; pay me instead!"
At this time, little Johnny Customer in the hall goes for the cheaper book. Little Johnny may not even know better -- he's just interested in the tea party, and he wants a deal. So, he pays the kid and the kid gets the money. You get no money for it, yet you made it. You lose your allowance. You lose your time. You lose your patience.
The kid didn't cross the line when he bought your book and copied it. He crossed the line when he started selling those copies to other kids. Because, now, you're out of your allowance, and any more candy money you might have gotten is but a dream.
Now, you get mad. You confront the kid who is selling your books. The kid sticks out his tongue, calls your sister names I dare not repeat and says, "What do you need the money for? You've already got lots of money."
"Listen, kid," you might reply. "I'll make you a deal, okay? If you're gonna be willing to go out there and sell these books for me, I'll help you make some money too. You can buy these books for a lot less than what you'll sell them for. That way, we both win."
The kid looks at you like you're insane. "No way! I don't have the money to buy your books! I'm gonna keep copying it. I make more money that way."
"But I don't make any money that way."
"Screw you," he yells. "You're a big kid with lots of money now. You owe me. You got it because you must have punched somebody in the schoolyard for it. All you rich kids do that."
"I made my allowance money fair and square --"
"Well, I don't have any money! I deserve money too. Why are you getting all the breaks, huh? Is your daddy rich?"
"No," you reply. "I worked my ass off for it. I wrote this book. Some of my friends drew the pictures, and they deserve to get something back for that."
The kid looks befuddled. He can't explain how things work because he still lives in his bedroom and doesn't do anything for a living yet. He's a whiney little bitch, while you are making something of your life. "I don't care. I'm doing this, and you can't stop me."
At that point, you punch the kid in the face, kick him a few times, and make an example of him. Lots of other kids form a circle wearing green shirts that say "Slashdot" on them and start chanting, "That's not fair! See? You're a big bully!"
Luckily, you're insane, so you keep making these books, even though these little parasites keep taking your due.
I suppose in a world like that, maybe the kids are right? Why work when you can whine, beg, and bitch on Slashdot while stealing another kids lunch money?
PS: Please, don't bother to reply if the best you can do is find a few spelling errors on here, alright? Go stick your head in the sandbox, you little freaks. You know who you are.