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Mod Chippers Ordered to Pay $9 Million in Fines
GameDaily is reporting that that ESA is announcing a major victory against game software piracy in California. A judge has handed down over $9 Million in fines to Divineo Inc., some employees, and international subsidiaries. From the article: "The defendants had apparently violated the DMCA by trafficking mod chips and the HDLoader software application that enables users to copy whole video games to a console's hard drive ... Mod chips then can be used to allow a console to play illegally obtained/pirated games. Both the mod chips and HDLoader application therefore circumvent the copyright protection technology built into video game consoles and video game software and are in direct violation of the DMCA."
From TFA: "Once the entire video game file is on the console's hard drive it probably isn't too difficult for a hacker to transfer it to his PC and then illegally distribute it on the web." PROBABLY? I'm no cracker, so I have no idea how easy or difficult this is, but COME ON. I seriously hope nobody got fined for theoretical damages caused by distributing a game online when the only evidence was that they had copied it to their console's HD.
USE colorful confetti ON heavily-armed clown
I dream of a day when I won't have to get off my couch to put the legally-purchased games I own into my game console, stream video, pictures, and music from my Linux PC, check the weather, etc. all without the use of these law-breaking modchips. I guess the Wii has a lot of that covered, and probably the PS3 and 360, I don't know. But for me, I really am THAT lazy, that I don't wanna switch the discs. :) That's a benefit of using a modchip even to those who don't pirate software.
You just know someone is crazy enough to use this precedence to piss on people installing games on their computers.
Only in America.
These firms are being punished in the same way a lockpicking tool company is being punished in that the tools they sell can be used for evil.
However, modding has not started with computers, people have always modded. They modded cars, their houses, their radios, their tools, and anything else they have bought. And all of these mods have potentially illegal uses.
Imagine if Honda struck back against Aftermarket makers, using the DMCA, and telling people that only "Honda certified" parts are allowed in the vehicles honda bought.
I can't help but think that electronics companies are getting a free ride from the government here.
Although I can see their point of not wanting piracy, don't they notice what people are actually doing? Aren't they making their consoles do what they want them too? I have to admit, if I saw my console, one I manufactured, being modded with face plates that read off disk space and allow games to be moved to the drive, etc, wouldn't it be smarter to build these in myself and charge more for the device? Obviously you should put in safeguards, but learn from what is going on around you and adapt your product to your customer. Isn't this a lesson in Business 101?
If they'd get rid of region codes on games, a lot of incentive to modify consoles would go away. I modded my PlayStation so I could play some fun games that never made it here, like Persona 2: Innocent Sin, Macross VFX 2, and Gunnm: Martian Memory.
Nintendo has it right. The GBA and DS are region-free.
I'm surprised that no one picked up the fact that it is Japanese company suing French company in US court.
They won. SFW? How are they going to enforce this ruling in France? From the coverage of this ruling on Ars Technica I know, that the company is still offering those modchips on their web page. And they will. The only thing they can't do now is to visit US. And maybe Iraq or Afghanistan. All of the international treaties about enforcig court rulings abroad have one basic assumption written into them: no party to such treaty shall enforce a court ruling for something that's perfectly legal in the country of residence of defendant party.
Nothing to see here, move along.
Robert
Bastard Operator From 193.219.28.162
More like speculative. Do you actually KNOW anyone who has a modded xbox who DOESN'T use it for pirated games? Regardless of whether modding HAS to be used for pirating, and regardless of whether pirating is "bad" or whatever, modded xbox systems are for playing pirated software. That's it. If you're going to pick a hole in this argument, this is the wrong one to choose.
...damages against corporate defendant Divineo, Inc., and Canadian resident Frederic Legault.
...damages against corporate defendants Divineo U.K. and Divineo SARL, and French resident Max Louarn.
It sounds like the suit wasn't defended. Plus, ESA won't see a dime unless Divineo corporate assets are in the US (which I would doubt). Legault, Lourn, and Divineo UK are not subject to personal jurisdiction in the US, and any judgment against them most likely won't be enforceble in their home countries. I would guess Legault and Lourn didn't appear in the US to defend the suit. If the above is true, this case has absolutely no precedential value, despite what the ESA claims. Plus its a N.D.Ca decision, so even if it was a fully litigated case, this "precedent" is only be binding in that judicial district.
..for me never buying another new game console or new game. If they want to treat the equipment they *sold* me as still under their control, then they will pay and/or perform all maintenance on said equipment, and the same for the games. If the games they *sold* me are their property, then they will replace the media when it gets scratched/damaged for a minor, nominal fee to cover handling/shipping. Otherwise, I have better things to spend my money on, thank you very much.
For that matter, if the consoles and games become any more consumer unfriendly, I won't even buy a *used* console or game, even at a garage sale for pennies on the dollar.
Cheers!
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
First I thought the americans were exporting the concept of freedom, but I soon came to realize they're actually giving their own away.
The kick in the butt I needed to get this ordered. Thanks slashdot.
Gaming for over 25 years
WTF wants to dig through a stack of cartridges/CD's to play a game? Mod chips were as much for convenience as they were for "Possible" circumvention. This is a perfect example of the wrong people making judgements.
Having to work for a living is the root of all evil.
OK, so not that I'm defending the fact that console manufacturers believe they own their product even after they've sold it to us, but the DMCA specifically bans the sale of any software that is designed to circumvent copyright protection, and this isn't the first ruling of it's kind. I do believe that once I've bought a game, I should be able to put it into any format I like and once I buy a console, I can spray paint it mod it gut the innards and make it a flower vase if I wanted to, and not be limited by what someone *might* do with such malicious programs as a weather widget. But, in this case the law is pretty clear on the issue and I don't see how the judge had any other choice. Also, this is light years from a "Major Victory" and I doubt this ruling will have much effect at all, but if they want to declare victory go right ahead, while you were filing pointless lawsuits $9 million worth of pirated games were downloaded on the internet (Statistics from the annual study I did in my brain by looking at no actual data)
I understand that the countries involved make it sort of a non-issue - though not being able to enter the US without being arrested might be a rather frustrating thing to work around, if I've understood the specifics of the case - but what frustrates me most is the innate assumption here that the tool WILL be used for piracy. I am the owner of a copy of the HDLoader software. I have used it many times, but never to run downloaded ROMs off the net or to play burned copies of games. I use it for three reasons: 1) I don't have to get up and hunt down a disc to play a particular game. 2) I don't have to worry about scratching the discs with a lot of shuffling around. And, most importantly of all, 3) Many games run much, MUCH faster off a HDD than off the original discs! Indeed, downloading ROMs to the disc, or even running burned copies of games, would require just as much mod chipping, disc swapping, etc. etc. as it would without the HDLoader app.
... one day, not so far away, open source will have progressed into gaming consoles and generic entertainment. Great movies will be produced by independent film makers, games by people who open source their software. Even the hardware will be open - so anyone can change anything.
The MPAA, RIAA and all equivalents from over the world still exist - they hunt down anyone who watches their content fiercefully. But their business is declining, as everyone uses the alternatives presented by the HUMAN community. Soon, there is nothing to watch anymore for the MPAA's, and the day will come that these old organisations will fade away.
Laws that once had a meaning, eg DMCA, will be useless and a testimonial of 'old' corporate thinking - where closed standards, security by obscurity and a failing content value system are the major trademarks.
How is this not legal ?? if you own a copy of the disc is that not just shifting the media format, somthing that is specifically allowed under fair use ?? I have 8-tracks with music on them that I cannot listen to but I AM KEEPING as my legal basis for having the MP3's on my hard drive. IANAL but IMHO that meets the RIAA's license vs purchase argument. Buy the media ONCE in a legal format then keep current with a digital image of the same. Either you buy the song and can do what you want with it, or you buy a license to listen to it, they can't have it both ways..unless they pay Uncle Sam enough I guess :(....
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
I hope you're not calling me a pirate. I don't even own a game console (unless you count the Nintendo GBA SP that I won under a Dr. Pepper bottle cap and don't have any games for other than the one that came with it).... :-)
I'm firmly of the opinion that any technology that tries to prevent unsigned or unprotected code form running is evil, and that owners of hardware have a fundamental right to be able to do to it whatever they want, up to and including modding it and running arbitrary software on it. If modchips are illegal, then potentially the next things to become illegal are things like reusing electronic disposable cameras, modding your TiVo so you can log in remotely and add shows to its list of things to record, modding an inexpensive microphone instead of buying an overpriced model with only minor differences, even upgrading the RAM in your computer instead of paying the manufacturer to do it for you. If we let the illegalization of modchips stand, we're sliding further down that slippery slope... and one day, nothing we own will really be ours.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
Until we pressure our government into requiring justices presiding over an issue to have at least a bachelor's degree in the theory behind the issue we will not see this kind of nuance considered at all.
At this point even the lawyers involved can't fully grasp what's going on enough to understand the subtle but important difference you've just outlined (unless theyre from the EFF, then they just don't know how to play the legal game correctly).
The fact that we have such important issues to consumer rights and personal freedom judged and debated by complete morons is proof positive that "god" cannot be perfectly compassionate and just.
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
By not buying their crap or buying it second-hand or downloading everything you can for nothing.
The only way you can hit back with corrupt law makers is to hit the source of the funds :
the companies buying them.
Boycott !!!
And spare us the bullshit about lost sales. 90% of those would never have happened in the first place. This is just greed.
I'm with you. The DVD load speed on the 360 is very annoying and PS3 Blu-ray transfer speed is pretty much the same (so will be just as annoying).
Putting mod chips to the side for a moment, I just wish XB/360/PS3 games would allow you to run a HD cache for them. I don't even mind putting the disk in the drive (if a better protection mechanism can't be found). I very rarely seriously play more than one game at a time, so if I could just shove it on the HD it would make everything so much nicer.
Ho-hum.
Free ride indeed!
We don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are.
-- Anais Nin
So you are saying I am a "pirate" at heart because I want to run SSH and an X Terminal on a DS when I get it? It would make accessing my Linux machines easier. (anyone have some good web pages which might explain how to do this?) I'm sure I'll need a mod chip for that.
Another reason to make modchips illegal: what about manufacturers who want to make compatible consoles. Right now it is probably difficult/illegal--why else have we not seen them. Plenty of people would want to buy a machine which could play games from the Gamecube, PS1/2, Xbox and such. The machine could even run regular computer programs (after all, a game machine is just a computer, though restricted)
[1] "Pirate" really should be copyright infringer or something like, but I guess it doesn't sound extreme enough for the entertainment cartel.
The law outlaws circumventing measures which protect copyrighted content. These are defined as measures which require the application of information or some other process to render the copyrighted work accessible. For instance, DVDs are scrambled, and the DVD player must have a key to unscramble them. However, video games are not scrambled. They are not encrypted in any fashion. They're just signed. The "copy protection" mechanisms in video game systems do not protect the content. They protect the hardware. They prevent the hardware from running unauthorized code. As such, they cannot, according to the law, be considered to effectively control access to a copyrighted work since the copyrighted work is still on the disk and can be read by an emulator or any other device which wishes to. Mod chips do not therefore violate the DMCA as written. As such, even if the lawsuit was unopposed, the judge should not have awarded damages due to the DMCA. Logically, one of the following occur: 1) the judge failed to understand the law 2) the judge failed to understand the technical issues or 3) Sony committed perjury in explaining how the copy-protection systems work.
Keith
... we will be needing to ban crowbars. After all, they can be used to break locks so that people can steal things! We must enact new legislation straight away to make sure that crowbars and any other tool that might be used for crime is banned. After all, it's the creators of the tool that are criminals, not the people who used it to break the law.