Slashdot Mirror
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.
Kinda relevant, but somehow missed from the main slashdot post:
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?
--
DNS Checking Tool
just dont sell modded xboxes. i don't understand why every slashdot post has to make a mountain out of a molehill.
A very clear one. Resistance is futile.
Global warming is a cube.
From the article:
"The man had been selling modified Xbox consoles which he fitted with a big hard drive containing 80 games."
So.. um.. not just mod chips, then.
Precedent or no, this guy no more deserves our sympathy or support than some guy selling bootlegged CDs on a street corner.
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
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 ...
"Because Science" is one step from "Because old book". Try "Because of my experiment testing my falsifiable assertion".
What does this mean?
Do it yourselfers who only modify boxes for themselves probably won't be bothered.
Those who do it for friends for free or just the cost of parts may but only if someone rats them out.
Those who are doing a high-volume business OR who are making any kind of profit are toast.
In a nutshell, the industry will play wack-a-mole and go after the higher-profile targets first.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Modifying hardware that you bought is not illegal, nor is selling it. Including a harddrive full of ROMs however, is...
"A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
He probably would've been pretty safe if he didn't sell them - I think they would've had a pretty tough time convicting him if it had just been some guy who chipped his own xbox at home for personal use.
(BTW: For those who havn't done it, modding an xbox is so easy that virtually anyone can do it. It actually takes longer to take the thing apart than it does to install the modchip and a bigger HD).
N.
"Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence." - Charles de Gaulle
Just a guy with an opinion
The headline / summary of this article needs to be rewritten to mention something about selling pirated games.
I caught the Mountain Wumpus! He gave me his treasure chest ($100) to let him go free again.
That they would label this article as, "Man busted for chipping box." When in fact it had nothing to do with the chip itself, but the PIRATED SOFTWARE the hard drive contained. It should be properly labeled as "Man busted for selling pirated Xbox software." if he had been selling Linux running xbox's with homebrew apps, it would have been a nonissue. As the slashdot commmunity, we do ourselves a disservice by labeling stories this way and spreading F.U.D. that would lead us to believe that chipping your box is illegal.
Next time excercise some editorial control and highlight the fact the man was selling Pirated Xbox software and that this was all part of a greater nonissue. You pirate software and sell it(Whether in Hard Drive or Disc Format) you are going to get the hammer. Guy got off amazingly light in the face of what he was doing.
John Walsh once found me while looking for some other kid. He was not amused.
...this isn't Xbox modding, this is Xbox infringement.
I'm against laws prohibiting modification OF MY OWN DAMN POSESSIONS. That's like saying I can't put a heavier recoil spring in my handgun, or improve the fuel mileage in my car with a better carb.
HOW LONG BEFORE I NEED TO HAVE A FEDERALLY APPROVED "SOLDERING IRON" OR "OSCILLOSCOPE" LICENSE?!
Now this guy got nailed for piracy but the quote about "chipping consoles is an illegal act" towards the end makes me uneasy. Real uneasy. It's only a matter of time before people get nailed like this under the US DMCA.
They aren't using this guy as a posterboy for generic anti-piracy, they are using him as an example for mod-chipping.
Regardless of the fact that this guy deserved to be punished, I can't see how chipping for a legitimate use (ie, to use it as a media centre etc) can possibly be illegal.
I would hope that if I bought the hardware I'd be entitled to do whatever I liked to it, provided I didn't actually break the law by putting pirated games on it.
I fail to see how taking a soldering iron to your X-Box can be interpreted as an illegal act.
PocketGamer.org - For the gamer on the go!
You are mistaken. Common law is quite popular is Britain much more so then many other countries.
He probably wouldn't have been caught if he didn't include 80 games on the drive of every xbox he modded.
That's like giving out 80 bags of hash with every bong you sell....the cops probly care more about the amount of hash you're giving out than they are the fact that you're selling bongs.
I guess when I go to a store and pickup a box with hardware in it, its still regarded as software: you don't "own" anything, just the right to "use" it.
Its an interesting conundrum which is only showing up in the computer age. If I bought a car tire, turned tied it to a tree and used it as a swing, I could do so. If I resold it as a swing, the manufacturers wouldn't care. It would still be an increase in their sales.
What gives with computer hardware/software anyways? Why does it have to be so different? I think the only problem here (which I agree to) is that some mods can be used to play games which were copied without first buying them. I think to make this go away: 1) cheaper replacements for broken discs past warranty should be allowed (some companies charge $20 or $30! - the cost of the game), 2) allow for some way to mod it without circumventing the copy protection on the games while still allowing functionality.
For example, with #2, if you want to mod your X-BOX as a weather station, to stream media in your house, to make the next Terminator robot, you should be allowed to - and even resell the design. In this way, you're using the hardware as you want to, MS makes the hardware sale (their prob if they sell at a loss) and you don't get to copy games.
But if I want an X-Box to be able to play games from another country that I've actually bought and had shipped over, and modding it is the only way to do it, shouldn't I, as the owner of this licensed box, be able to modify how it operates to work with software I own? Am I violating a copyright or am I violating the DMCA in any way? (I don't ethically think I am, since I legally purchased the items in question, and while I'm no lawyer, I believe it's my right to be able to make something made for the same platform, but from a different country, able to work with my system.)
I personally think (mod me up/down/whatever) that this kind of ruling is stupid. I do not like this one bit, this seems to screw over everyone who wishes to make sure their system works with any software they buy that's "designed" for such a system. (This also makes me wonder, why develop PAL and NTSC? I mean, if you're going to make the system, (from now on replace system with XBox) and distribute it worldwide, should this XBox not have the same hardware, same BIOS, etc? Why the hell would I need to buy the same XBox, TWICE, from different countries just so I can play a game from a differnt land?
Just to clear it up, I don't own an XBox (The whole statement above is a theoretical/POV one) and this is one of the reasons I'll *NEVER* buy a console, and instead wait for emulation.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
As long as you can't buy sex on the internet, they'll always have a revenue stream.
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
It really doesn't matter, if my understanding of the legal system is even vaguely close to accurate, as to whether the person was "guilty" of software piracy, if he was in fact prosecuted under a different law entirely. What matters is what the judge ruled on, how and why.
For example, if the judge said something along the lines of "the piracy was the offence, and the xbox mods were an aggravating factor", then I don't think there's anything to be too concerned about.
On the other hand, if it was the reverse of that, that the mods were the offence, and the piracy was an aggravating factor, then there could be some implications, as that would imply that the piracy was merely a detail that made things worse, in the eyes of the law.
Without clearer information on exactly what was said, and without some input from a legal expert who can give some interpretation, it's very hard to see what exactly this case means. However, if the latter idea (ie: mods are bad) is correct, then what we're seeing is probably the "worse possible case". In other words, someone who was caught selling modded boxes only would not be likely to get anything worse.
Of course, the whole thing might be thrown out on appeal. The appeals process would go to the appeals court, then eventually to the House of Lords, and (if necessary) to the European Court of Human Rights. The House of Lords has a lot of grudge matches going with the House of Commons at the moment, so don't expect them to be sympathetic to the Government. The EU is in an even worse mood, so if it gets to them, almost anything could happen - and probably will.
This is not like America, where the Government can throw around impeachment threats, whenever the Supreme Court rules against them. The Law Lords cannot be impeached by the sitting Government and have pretty much free reign to decide how they like. They are supposed to rule by the law, but when they get seriously narked by Government attitudes, they're just as likely to rule in retaliation.
Most likely, it won't go to appeal, as the fine isn't super-huge and community service is unlikely to involve the rooftop of Stangeways, or the insides of Dartmoor's equally notorious prison. Depending on how many boxes were sold, he might easily cover the costs of the computers and the fines from his "income".
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
That they would label this article as, "Man busted for chipping box." When in fact it had nothing to do with the chip itself, but the PIRATED SOFTWARE the hard drive contained.
Without the court docket all we have to go on is the article. The article says he was actually convicted for chipping, not copyright violation. Possibly he plea-bargained down to that (or the UK equivalent)... but regardless, IF he was convicted for chipping then this case can be used to help make the next case against someone doing something less obviously illegal, like selling Linux XBoxes...
As read in BBC news:
Man convicted for chipping Xbox Xbox console
(image)
(NOTE: extra-tiny caption. almost invisible)"The Xbox was fitted with a 200GB hard drive packed with games"
A 22-year-old man has become the first person in the UK to be convicted for modifying a video games console."
It's like seeing this on slashdot front page:
headline "Man convicted for running a distro of linux"
in the story: "-CD through the skull of a apple fan boi."
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
Almost every time I have ever seen the BBC run an article covering some kind of clash between technology and the desires of large traditional commercial copyright holders, they seemed to have gone absolutely out of their way to slant the article in favor of the copyright holders.
I don't follow the BBC closely and I don't really know much about their normal news coverage. But it seems that on this one set of subjects they seem incapable of or unwilling to write a balanced article.
Somehow I don't think it's just a coincidence that the BBC is, itself, a large traditional commercial copyright holder.
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
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 his modded Xboxs, instead of modding it for personal use, but what modified Xbox consoles which he fitted with a big hard drive containing 80 games. 'This case sets a major precedent does this set for casual homebrew gamers and importers?" 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.
errrr, ok. offtopic
13 million whoo!
The title of the story is unrelated to the meat of the story. It's like ordering filet mignon at a fancy restaurant from a pretentious waiter and getting a plate of Rhesus Pieces.
This is about copyright theft, not modding. The title is uninformative and flame bait. Zonk should have known better than to release this story with that title.
Watch this post get modded into oblivion. I don't care, my karma is bullet proof, bitch.
--
BMO
The European copyright law is basically a copy of the US DMCA, so yes. Its for compatibility so that we can trade 'fairly' with the US, perhaps next we should consider flogging and stoning so we are 'compatible' with Saudi Arabian law?
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
precedent on Xbox modding is grossly mistaken. What we have here is a seller of pirated software that happened come with a modded Xbox. He deserves no sympathy and did a disservice to those in the "modding community" who are simply enthusiasts who like to see what their hardware can do (Installing Linux for instance). As a matter of fact, his sentence when compared to others convicted of software piracy may well be lenient. What isn't mentioned is just how many he sold. With the amount of information available on the web for modding Xboxes, I doubt he would have been noticed if not for the piracy. What this WILL do is drawn more attention on those with more modest goals. What he did was WRONG, and don't give me some "fight the power" garbage. BTW, I believe in fair use.
"Build something idiot proof, and someone will build a better idiot" - Samuel Clemens
Its amazing, this guy actually did violate copyrights with piracy, for profit, and on quite a large scale and he gets a small fine and community service. Dimitry Skilerov violated no copyrights, in another country, and mearly talked about it and he got 6 months in prison.
This brings me to another point: If the whole purpose of a copy-protection device is to stop you copying something, then why do you need a law to prohibit tampering with the device?? If its such an amazing piece of engineering why does it need legal protection? It seems like 'they' are getting the best of both worlds - they can have their copy-protection devices AND the law behind them when only ONE is actually necessary. Perhaps consoles should be sold under a contract making it clear that you don't actually own the console and you may not modify it. For fucks sake someone just choose one of these options, you cant have your cake and eat it too.
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
Just a point on fair use for imported games - with DVD's the region encoding and the scrambling are two separate things AFAIK. Throwing all controversy with DMCA/EUCA out for a moment, breaking the scrambling/CSS part of the DVD would clearly by illegal, but breaking the region coding is not in any way a copyright violation or a breaking of a copy-protection device. Assuming the XBox works the same way, modding for compatibility with imported titles is not the same as modding so that a copied disk can be used or so that it can load from a hard-drive. Hopefully that would stand up in court, although given how crappy the law is in the first place i doubt it.
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
Modifying hardware is illegal here in the UK, sadly.h ip_win/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/21/ps2_mod_c
/. is good for you.
According the the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4650225.stm "the modification of video games consoles has been an illegal practice since October 2003, when the UK enacted the EU Copyright Directive."
This very much depends on your jurisdiction. Slashdot may be an American website, but there are still enough people from other countries here that the blanket statement "It's a criminal offence" is unreasonable.
In Canada downloading *absolutely is* legal. There have been rulings on this point from the high courts, and the CPCC is steamed about it. The comment from the minister in charge of these things was something like "It is very disappointing to discover that this is the case in Canadian law. We'll have to fix that."
They haven't fixed it yet, and Canada is hardly the most IP liberal country in the world. I believe France had similar rulings lately, largely because they have a similar copyright levy system.
Even in the US, though, downloading is *not* a criminal offense. You cannot go to jail for downloading. You can only go to jail for distribution. It's illegal, and you'd have to pay damages to the RIAA, but you will not have a criminal record. The FBI and local police will not and cannot investigate downloading. There will be no wiretaps to find out if you're downloading.
It simply isn't that kind of offense, which is why the RIAA has its own evidence gathering goons.
Even if it were a criminal offense, it would be a stupid thing to try to prosecute. The burden of proof in criminal court is "beyond reasonable doubt." Hard for downloads, only really worth trying for distribution. In civil court it's "the preponderance of evidence", which is easy.
...not selling a modded X-Box.
The man had been selling modified Xbox consoles which he fitted with a big hard drive containing 80 games.
So, the bigger crime is that he sold modded X-Boxes, rather than the fact that he loaded it with 80, most definitely pirated, games??? What's the world coming to... That would be like if someone was arrested for having a hydroponics setup, rather than for the large marijuana crop that individual was growing.
Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
It is odd, that you can legally own a thing. Possess it in your home. But not allowed to "take it apart." That really means you don't own it. The way I see it, what I do in my own home, as long as it stays there, is simply no ones business. I also believe if I am smart enough to crack someone's OTA encryption, then all's fair in love and way, I should legally have access to what I am smart enough to recognize. If get help from someone else, or give the content to someone else, that is an entirely different manner. Regarding copyright. Shouldn't that be regulated by Anti-Trust law? Copyright is now the backbone for huge revenue - more than some telecom.
No,the BBC WERE accurate, the offence was breach of the EU Copyright directive, which makes it illegal to chip the xbox - actually to defeat a copy protection system. That's what the guy did, and thats what he was convicted for. The piracy didn't help but the copying of games was actually just a side issue that didn't help his case at all
And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour Isaiah 3:5