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Man Convicted For Hacking Xbox

Posted by Zonk on from the thinking-big dept.

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.

10 of 343 comments (clear)

  1. Er, this is actually about boring old piracy by rimu+guy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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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    1. Re:Er, this is actually about boring old piracy by RonnyJ · · Score: 5, Insightful
      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.

    2. Re:Er, this is actually about boring old piracy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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.

    3. Re:Er, this is actually about boring old piracy by squarefish · · Score: 5, Funny

      sure, you sort of make sense, but I think the point they're trying to get across is that hacking is just like drug use- once you start modding your xbox, it will lead to harder crimes like piracy and raping his neighbor's dog. The fact that he was selling this just reinforces the negativity surround the 'hacking' addiction.

      he should definitely get the death penalty for this.
      </sarcasm>

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  2. What precedent does it set? by giorgiofr · · Score: 5, Funny

    A very clear one. Resistance is futile.

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  3. Uh, aren't you leaving something out? by mcc · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

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  4. Right, so he deserved it ... by TheGavster · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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 ...

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  5. 80 games by jotux · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.

  6. Re:Blame the media and lazy submitters by king-manic · · Score: 5, Funny

    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."

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  7. Jurisdiction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.