Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Man Jailed for Selling Modchips

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the modded-xboxes-are-better dept.

JoeCotellese writes "The Register is reporting that the man accused of selling Mod chips for the X-Box was sentenced to five months imprisonment and a $28,500 fine." Yet another sad abuse of the DMCA.

1 of 445 comments (clear)

  1. Clarification by steronz · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The confusion over this issue has been bothering me ever since the story broke several months ago.

    XBOX mod chips ARE NOT ILLEGAL! They never have been! I just bought one last week. The mod chip is nothing more than a regular PC bios chip with some circuitry to override the on-board bios. The bios that I downloaded from IRC and flashed to my mod chip IS illegal. It's just a slightly modified version of the COPYRIGHTED xbox bios. Now, you can argue about the legality of copyright law, but this has nothing to do with the DMCA.

    Moving onto the case in question, this guy was selling mod chips with the modified (illegal) bios already installed. Big mistake. If he had been selling blank modchips like the rest of the world, he would have been fine.

    Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go play my pirated copy of DOA: Beach Volleyball...