Man May Face 10 Years in Prison for Modding an Xbox

[Hyrulian Hero]

Modifying a console, whether to play pirated games or not, is illegal. Read the paperwork that came with your console. Whether or not you agree with it is irrelevant. And honestly, I'm glad. The game industry is being fucked left and right by anti-game activists and laws and lawsuits, so why support people who are taking away the money they do make?

 

[MrTub]

the iPhone case does not pertain to game consoles.

Wtf is the difference? That sounds completely arbitrary.

well the difference being unlocking the iphone let it do things which were beneficial but were not removing from anybodies revenue stream. Whereas modding an Xbox removes revenue from all the games the pirates use.

You can use the same argument on jailbraking a iphone since it let you use pirated games on it.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

He gets 10 years, and rapists and dog killers get 5 years? The juridical system is fucked.

He's recieved 10 years? Woah, I must have missed that, I was under the impression they had only just selected the Jury, they must have sped this case though court to get a sentence of 10 years delivered so quickly...

He may not have been sentenced, but the fact that there are laws that make the punishment higher for him than for the aforementioned child molesters and hound decapitators is what's upsetting me.

 

[Treblaine]

Crippen's lawyer then tried to compare the moddification to jailbreaking an iPhone, an action explicitly allowed by the DMCA, but the Judge again disallowed the defense, stating that the iPhone case does not pertain to game consoles.

Yes, it's not like iPhone can play games or anything.

Oh wait, phones are almost universally socially accepted, so they get a free pass. But video games consoles, dear god... people still blame Columbine on video games.

do you know what the iphone mods were generally for?
1. Send and receive MMS
2. Record video
3. Improve the digital camera
4. better text messaging
5. Customise the interface
6. Change the network APN
7. Copy and paste
8. Use as a tethered modem
9. Proper formatting for phone numbers
10. Organise applications into folder

source
http://apcmag.com/hack_your_iphone.htm

the main reason that the Iphone hack was basically given a free pass was BECAUSE IT DID WHAT THE PHONE SHOULD OF BEEN ABLE TO ANYWAY.

I don't know what you're getting at (other than items 2, 7 and 10 are already in the official iOS) but the idea that jailbroken phones still buy all their apps doesn't add up. I didn't even know you could use the app-store with a jailbroken iphone, you can't buy the apps any other way so piracy is the only option. It is certainly a possibility.

Not to mention the piracy that has been inherent with MP3 players since day one. Have you any idea how much 30GB worth of music costs if you legally bought every track or CD? About $6'500, who SPENDS that much on music? So many people clamoured for such large capacity MP3 players BECAUSE OF THE RAMPANT PIRACY!

I'm worried by this law as it treats the idea of merely being ABLE to pirate games as a crime.

I have a PC, that means I'm able to pirate game, I'm just a web-link away from a .exe of a cracked game file. Does that make ME a criminal? Am I exempt simply because my PC has ALWAYS been able to pirate content (even though I have NEVER pirated any game in my life, not one)?

It's the legal presumption of corporate control that I object to, and I think that goes beyond justice to the very law itself.

There are so many reasons other that violating copyrights for hacking an xbox, also as simple as cheating. Yes, it's an amoral thing to do but it's not illegal, maybe breach of contract when you joined Xbox live, but illegal for merely allowing them to do that?

Face it, the crime here is not facilitating copyright violations, EVERYONE is guilty of that. Itunes is guilty of that allowing you to import songs with no verification of where they have come from.

This guy is guilty of undermining a company's control of their customers. If that is a crime, it shouldn't be.

 

[Kiereek]

He had better hope the jury is miraculously composed of sympathetic gamers. I have a feeling non-gamers will have no sympathy.

 

[kaizen2468]

i think hes screwed and will be made an example of

Because that's worked so well with the RIAA, you hardly ever hear of pirating music now.

I'm not saying it with work exactly, but I think they're gonna try. Like that woman who was ordered to pay what, $62,500 per song for pirating music.

 

[Fledge]

He gets 10 years, and rapists and dog killers get 5 years? The juridical system is fucked.

Can't say much more than I AGREE WITH THIS MUCH LOTS YES.

 

[Tsaba]

why prison time? Put the guy on probation and fine him, I think that would be "harsh" enough, and if he did it again then slap his head so hard he finds out what the inside of his colon looks like.

 

[justnotcricket]

Hm. I feel like I need more information. If he broke a law, he should be punished (not perhaps to the tune of 10 years...). Irrespective of how stupid a law may seem, they're there, and if you break one and get caught, they can sting you for it.

Actually, what we really need is more sensitive and specific laws about this kind of thing. But then I suppose those are difficult to come up with.

If he was actually making (probably non-taxed) income from modifying another company's product so that it could run pirated games, then, well..think about it. I know we all love to hate Microsoft, but if it was your company, how would you feel?

Also, I may have just overlooked it (I read all the articles quite fast), but where does it actually say 10 years? I only found 3 years...

 

[antipunt]

Ehh..regardless of rights and wrongs. 10 years?

...

a bit harsh, no?

 

[newwiseman]

If the judge can't see the comparison of an iPhone to a Xbox just because one is portable and the other has a disc drive then they should move for him to remand him-self; at the very least he has already given them more than enough ground for an appeal, and the trail hasn't even started yet.

 

[newwiseman]

Thats the basis of the law, now the reason he's going through this is because he profited from allowing others to pirate games, he made money from people pirating stuff thanks to his know how.

Using that argument you should sue Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Steve Wozniak for giving you access to machines that others can use to steal your money.

 

[biGBum333]

a jail sentence?! wouldnt a fine be more appropriate?

 

[voetballeeuw]

I did not know that the police had undercover agents trying to buy modded xboxs. It's kind of strange.

 

[Scrythe]

For some odd reason, I first read that as "Man Faye Face 10 Years in Prison for Modding an Xbox" and thought to myself, "Wait... this [http://www.fohguild.org/forums/attachments/screenshots/43405d1181632999-hot-anime-chicks-thread-manfaye.jpg] man [http://sjonna.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/manfaye.jpg] is going to jail? He won't last long".

Oh, and I apologize for the eye-and-soul scorching.

 

[taciturnCandid]

Wait.. they are giving jail time for this? The jails are already mostly full in the U.S. and cost the taxpayers an insane amount. Is this serious? When the U.S. is already in a huge deficit, we need to add more people in prisons because they were involved in piracy? Just sue them or use some kind of fine. That cuts off the profits they were making and saves the government money.

 

[zxBARRICADExz]

This shouldn't even be a case, he bought the system, he's allowed to do what he wants with it. So are the people he enabled to do the same. There are plenty of legit reasons someone would want to mod a 360.

anyone that agrees with this is a fool.

Modification of an intellectual property is illegal. end of story.