July 5, 2005First Ever Console Modding Conviction
Posted by greg
source: ign - Wade Steel
The first ever conviction for modifying a gaming console has been secured in the UK, with a 22 year-old Cambridge graduate receiving 140 hours of community service and a bill for about $1,500 in court costs, according to a report at GamesIndustry.biz.
The man was found guilty under the EU (European Union for those of you who don’t pay attention to these things) Copyright Directive which makes it illegal to circumvent copy protection systems on hardware such as gaming consoles.
The perpetrator was selling Xbox consoles with larger hard drives than the retail version, with pre-installed games already loaded. According to the report, the modified consoles came with 80 pre-installed games on a 200 GB hard drive at a cost of about $760 per console.
In addition to being convicted of illegally distributing the 80 pirated games, the Cambridge grad was also convicted of actually modding the console itself — an act that is considered illegal under the EUCD.
According to Michael Rawlinson, the deputy director of the ELSPA (the trade group that brought the charges against the individual in question), “This case sets a major precedent which marks a milestone in the fight against piracy.” Rawlinson went on to state that this case “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.”
WTF!??!? I can understand getting convicted for selling a bunch of illegal games, but how about people that sell bootlegged movies? Anyway, but for modifying his OWN system!??!?! They probably just through that in to punish him a little more. I mean it’s him DAMN PROPERTY! Why shouldn’t he be able to change it up a bit? Thats like saying I cant paint my house, even though I OWN the fucking thing!!
God damn retards… Of course he would get convicted dumbass… It’s re-selling a Modified Microsoft product which microsoft made Illegal. And then he put 80 Games on the hard drive. And people that bootleg movies do get cuaght. You can modify your Xbox all you want if you just don’t do Xbox live or sell it in a store…
“the Cambridge grad was also convicted of actually modding the console itself”
it said that in EUROPE its illgal to mod your own system…read next time before calling someone a dumbass
What a stuped idiot… that was asking to get busted!!! Please illegal to mod your own system is totally bull shit!!! Like yousaid (1) I own the fucking thing, i do whatever the fuck i want to with it.
Meh… in the electronics industry no one owns anything anymore, you are just granted a “license” to use thier hardware/software. So thats how all this crap can happen.
do like i do and grow your own pot. smoke your own pot. share your own pot. dont sell your own pot. dont tell you grow your own pot. whats the last thing i said? this is how you get more out of life without the jail time.
yA THIS IS ALL BULLSHIT, tHE ONLY THING THIS GUY REALLY DID WRONG WAS SELL THE X BOXES WITH PRELAODED GAMES, THAT WAS SKETCHY i THINK WE ALL AGREE WITH THAT, BUT WE NEED SOME KIND OF ORGANIZATION TO PROTECT OWNERS OF THEIR EQUIPMENT, iF i HAVE A WHITE CAR AND WANT TO STICK A COMPUTER AND HACKED X BOX IN MY DASH i WILL, IT DOESNT COST MICROSOFT ANYTHING FOR ME TO HAVE A DIFFERENT COLOR XBOX, OR DIFFERENT HARD DRIVE OR WATEVER. I have every intentino of making a XBOT this year, yes guys thats a xbox powered robot, and if microsoft doesnt like it I will use the patent law agianst them since “regressive” hacking is tottally legal, yup thats right I found a loophole email me tenoaksonline@yahoo.com
Oh and I have pics of that crazy install i Mentioned in my dash Muah haha haa with 7.5 inch touchscreen in dash
Ps3 is way betta this one suck like shit ps3 is made for sport game
#9 is a fanboy, dont listen to him.
also, people are hacking the psp left and right and arent getting busted, so why did this guy?
cause its only illegal in euro, you can mod/chip an xbox all you want in the US, although, the games pre-installed thing is still illegal
well I see nothing wrong with him modding his x-box 360…I will mod my fucking x-box whenever I want so fuck whoever thinks Microsoft can say shit about that.I do however think it was stupid of him for selling them.