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Arrests Made Near D.C. Over Modded Game Consoles
multiOSfreak writes "According to this Reuters articl, two video game store employees have been arrested for modding video game consoles. From the article: 'Authorities arrested two store employees on charges of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and conspiracy to traffic in a device that circumvents technological protection measures, the ESA said.'" It's not clear from the article whether the modded consoles were sold without copies of the games which had been installed on their hard drives, which would seem to be the most important distinction between convenience for buyers and actually ripping off game makers. Update: 12/08 22:43 GMT by T : This thread on boing-boing includes a comment from a would-be customer who says (among other things) that store employees "were also preloading the XBox systems with tons of emulators (arcade and console) and as many ROMs as they could find."
Timothy: It's not clear from the article whether the modded consoles were sold without copies of the games which had been installed on their hard drives
Article: Pandora's Cube, Wright said, sold $500 "Super Xbox" consoles, modified versions of Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Xbox video game console, that had been modified to hold larger hard drives and play pirated games. The modified consoles, some holding 15 or more games already copied to the hard drive, were on open display in the stores
It sounds to me like they'd stock up the drives with ripped off games to warrant the $500 price tag. After the modchip, hard disk and cost of the XBOX itself there isn't a lot left from the $500 to go towards games.
Trolling is a art,
"The modified consoles, some holding 15 or more games already copied to the hard drive, were on open display in the stores."
Yeah, that sounds like an open and shut case of stupidity to me.
Conspiracy to commit copyright infringement... I didn't know it'd gotten that bad yet.
-Jesse
Nothing says "unprofessional job" like wrinkles in your duct tape.
Sure, modchips can be used to boot Linux from your XBOX and other cool stuff, as playing imported games on your PS1, etc.
But let`s be honest. 99% of modded Xbox and PS1/2 serve a lone purpose : playing games without paying for them.
Of course, we must also realize that the popularity of the PS1 compared to the N64 was probably due to this 'feature'...
Eureka Science News - automatically updated
This store was pretty blatant about it. Selling a $500 "Super Xbox" preinstalled with a modchip, upgraded hard drive and a few copied games on the hard drive. That's just asking for it.
As a result of this arrest, I'll feel a little bit safer tonight when I go to sleep.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
before we get all uppity, the headline written by reuters is a lie. they were arrested for modding xboxes, loading them with 15 games, and selling them as "super xboxes" on the store shelves.
They were NOT arrested for "modding xboxes". They were arrested for being idiots.
It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. The employees worked for Pandora's Cube apparently. This company is very active on the anime convention circuit and sells their wares there. I've never seen them sell these Super X-boxes at conventions. Perhaps the employees were doing this independently of the store?
AnimeNEXT anime convention
Any business should know not to participate in such behaviour, especially openly. What people do in the privacy of their own homes is one thing... but selling Pirated material? Sorry, no matter what side of the fence you stand on, and wether you think it's right or wrong, it was pretty stupid of them.
-Vendal Thornheart
In other news, federal authorities raided and destroyed core Internet routers citing that the hardware was facilitating piracy.
"Oh dear, she's stuck in an infinite loop and he's an idiot" -Prof. Farnsworth (Futurama)
Quoth the article:
Now, I assume the reason that the feds were involved is that this was for-profit copyright infringement, which is a crime.
Who did what now?
Not only were they modding the consoles, but they were selling them with pirated games already installed for $500 a pop.
If that's not blatant piracy deserving of jail time then I don't know what is. Whine all you want about your right to do what you want with your own hardware, but these guys were begging to get busted.
Presenting the tools to a user to allow them to infringe on somebodys copyrights: Legal
Using those tools and infringing on somebodys copyright: Illegal
Hardware that circumvents restrictions put in place to keep me from accessing my legally licensed software should always be legal.
This reminds me of the old PS mod chip stuff I used to do for my gfs mom. I modded a few PSs, and copied rented games for her. It worked out great, because I _knew_ her. If you're going to do this kind of thing for pocket ching, keep it discrete. Like when you get offered Gillette Sensor Excel Titanium Pro(whatever) blades at the local barbershop at like %30 of cost because they fell off a truck somewhere. That's relatively discrete. Putting those same blades in the store window, not discrete.
Darwinism applies to illegal activity also. The stupid get busted, the smart don't.
Do you see the sig? Do you have it in your sights? Why yes, Miss Moneypenny...
Well, now that the gaming industry has caught these two guys, their billions in lost revenue will be made up in no time!
Just FYI, here's the language from 17 U.S.C. 506 which describes criminal copyright infringement:
"(a) Criminal Infringement.--Any person who infringes a copyright willfully either--
(1) for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain, or
(2) by the reproduction or distribution, including by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copies or phonorecords of 1 or more copyrighted works, which have a total retail value of more than $1,000,
shall be punished as provided under section 2319 of title 18, United States Code. For purposes of this subsection, evidence of reproduction or distribution of a copyrighted work, by itself, shall not be sufficient to establish willful infringement.
(b) Forfeiture and Destruction.--When any person is convicted of any violation of subsection (a), the court in its judgment of conviction shall, in addition to the penalty therein prescribed, order the forfeiture and destruction or other disposition of all infringing copies or phonorecords and all implements, devices, or equipment used in the manufacture of such infringing copies or phonorecords.
(c) Fraudulent Copyright Notice.--Any person who, with fraudulent intent, places on any article a notice of copyright or words of the same purport that such person knows to be false, or who, with fraudulent intent, publicly distributes or imports for public distribution any article bearing such notice or words that such person knows to be false, shall be fined not more than $2,500.
(d) Fraudulent Removal of Copyright Notice.--Any person who, with fraudulent intent, removes or alters any notice of copyright appearing on a copy of a copyrighted work shall be fined not more than $2,500.
(e) False Representation.--Any person who knowingly makes a false representation of a material fact in the application for copyright registration provided for by section 409, or in any written statement filed in connection with the application, shall be fined not more than $2,500.
(f) Rights of Attribution and Integrity.--Nothing in this section applies to infringement of the rights conferred by section 106A(a)."
So yes, there canbe criminal penalties for copyright infringement -- its already built in to the statutes.
"That's not even wrong..." -- Wolfgang Pauli
the 11th commandment would read "Thou shalt not make copies of the previous 10 commandments."
No data, no cry
A lot of people make the moral argument against copyright infringement. As well and good as that may be, and as much as I may agree with it, that argument is pointless and naive.
For every "pirate" they arrest, ten spring up in his place. For every p2p network that gets shut down/investigated/compromised, ten faster, more secure, more anonymous networks spring up in its place. Furthermore, many developing (and some developed) nations have absolutely no incentive whatsoever to enforce copyright law.
Bandwidth is increasing. Users are becoming more and more techno-savy. The technology is getting better.
This cannot be stopped. Legislative measures end at national borders, and do not effectively deter (see the drug war). Technological measures will always be circumvented. Moralistic measures have no power of enforcement.
It's not a matter of whether this is right or wrong. It's not a matter of whether intellectual property is legally protected.
It's a matter of technology existing that cannot un-exist.
Entities that rely on intellectual property protections have only two viable long-term paths at this point:
1) Adapt to this new world.
2) Be destroyed by it.
Yes, it may be wrong. Yes, it may be stealing. Yes, it will put people out of work. The sad fact, however, is that these points are irrelevant in the face of the simple truth that it can not and will not be stopped.
There comes a point in any losing battle where you cut your losses, step back, and re-evaluate your situation. We passed that point long ago.
GeekNights!
Late Night Radio for Geeks!
I used to shop at the College Park location that these guys ran, and I have to say that if there was ever a poster boy for the copyright-free movement, these guys were definitely not it. These weren't folks who just modded a few playstations. They sold lots of blatently pirated games and videos, at outragous prices. They pulled all kinds of tricks to pull a fast buck at their customers' expense. As an example, one time they went to an Anime convention, grabbed up all the free samples of a particularly coveted product that another vendor was giving away, then promptly resold them at the same convention. These guys would pirate anything for a quick buck. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
These guys are well known in the local circles of being complete and utter cockmonglers.
They sell bootleg dvds and tapes, on the shelf, at exorbant prices. Theyve got a copy-system in the back, so when they sell one of the bootlegs, they just replace it with another copy.
They've been kicked out of several anime cons before for selling bootleg dvds and merchandise (Very frowned upon, as the anime companies and the fans have unspoken rules)
And the guy who runs it makes cowboy neal look skinny.
So, that means i can pirate upwards of 60 music CD's every 180 days and not be commiting a crime. ( for personal use, not re-sale )
( not that i can even think of 60 cds i want at this point. but that isnt the point )
Now, considering its a criminal issue and not a civil issue, the burden is on the court to prove the timing of the copying..
---- Booth was a patriot ----
I've shopped at the College Park and Baltimore stores in Maryland. Their prices are very high! However, in this case my own observations led me to the following opinion: the article has the correct spin, i.e. pro-government, pro-console manufacturer, and pro-software publisher.
It's not unique to Pandora's Cube. Every import store I've visited sells grey/black market items in plain sight, with large signs, and sometimes light ropes! Depending on the quality of the copy, you may inadvertantly be purchasing illegal copies. Be wary when they say "They're from Hong Kong."
I'd venture to say they collected a bit more evidence in other areas (*cough* video/dvd *cough*), too. If you're gonna play, don't get caught. I mean, the probable cause was out in the open and the FBI HQ is 20 miles away?
The saddest example of law enforcement was when Pokemon: The First Movie was out, I was catching a preview of it at the store. Not only was this a week before theatrical release, but I was watching it along with four police officers who were in the store at that time. In the end, I guess it was truly a Federal case.
Sour grapes: Customer service sucked, too.
There are more of these "illegal consoles" on Amazon.com for $500. They are listed as used, so they don't come directly from Amazon, but some of the ads openly say they are preloaded with games.
Used XBoxes
I neglected to mention before (and Xeni has already updated my remarks over at BoingBoing)...
Pandora's Cube keeps electronic records of who you are and what you purchase. Not so much with the game and DVD purchases, but defintely with the system purchases.
I doubt that the Feds will pursue the buyers, but if they obtain the records they will know who bought what system with the pirated games...