Man Convicted For Hacking Xbox

PipianJ writes "Remember the ruling in Britain which outlawed mod chips last year? BBC News is reporting that a man has been convicted of modding an Xbox and sentenced to 140 hours of community service, a fine of 750 pounds (about $1300), and the confiscation of his PCs and Xboxes." From the article: "The man had been selling modified Xbox consoles which he fitted with a big hard drive containing 80 games. 'This case sets a major precedent which marks a milestone in the fight against piracy,' said games industry spokesman Michael Rawlinson." Update: 07/04 22:12 GMT by Z : Updated to more accurately discuss the story.

Comments

Er, this is actually about boring old piracy

[rimu guy]

Kinda relevant, but somehow missed from the main slashdot post:

The man had been selling modified Xbox consoles which he fitted with a big hard drive containing 80 games.

There are legitimate reasons to chip consoles, e.g. to run your own OS on them. I wonder how the case would have gone had the guy just been selling modded console sans illegal software. Anyone want to turn themselves in and find out?

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Re:Er, this is actually about boring old piracy

[RonnyJ]

The ELSPA statement is also strange.

"It sends a clear message to anyone tempted to become involved in chipping consoles that this is a criminal offence and will be dealt with accordingly "

I don't understand why that statement is so focused on the chipping part, when the guy was doing a great deal more than that (i.e. selling pirated games). The only reason I can think of is that ELSPA are spinning this as a way to deter a larger amount of people from the lesser 'crime' of chipping.

Re:Er, this is actually about boring old piracy

[Anonymous Coward]

it really sounds like a case of piracy (cough, sorry, copyright infringement)

Actually, in this instance, piracy is the correct term.

Piracy refers to large-scale copyright infringement for monetary gain.

Right, so he deserved it ...

[TheGavster]

Mod your x-box, put Linux or what-have-you on it: OK. Mod your x-box, put 80 pirated x-box games on it, and sell it: Not OK. Seriously, what did he *think* would happen? Even the most liberal interpretations of copyright prohibit making a bunch of copies of something and selling them at a profit ...