Xbox modders to be charged
p2pnet.net News:- Four retailers have admitted they illegally modified Microsoft Xbox video game consoles, says the US Department of Justice.
They worked in Pandora’s Cube, a video game distributor with three stores in Springfield, Virginia; College Park, Maryland; and Baltimore, Maryland, says the DoJ, going on:.
“During 2003 and 2004, Pandora’s Cube assembled and sold modified Microsoft Xbox video game consoles, which Pandora’s Cube called ‘Super Xboxes’.
“The Super Xbox was specifically designed by Pandora’s Cube to defeat the Xbox’s integrated copyright protection system and to permit customers to avoid purchasing, and paying the retail price for, authentic Xbox game discs.
“Assembled with a modification chip, new software, and an enlarged hard drive, the Super Xbox allowed users to copy video games from an authentic game disc, save the copied games onto its hard drive, and play the video game directly from the hard drive without the authentic disc. Additionally, Pandora’s Cube illegally copied large quantities of Xbox video games onto the hard drives of the Super Xboxes and sold the copied games at very substantial discounts to customers.”
Biren Amin is scheduled to be sentenced on August 17, Hitesh Patel on July 19, Mrugesh Amin on August 9 and, Herbie Walker on August 4.
The four face five years in prison under the DCMA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act ), a fine of $250,000, and “restitution to the victims”.
US federal agencies raided the retailer and seized “circumvention devices, modified Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2 consoles, and copyrighted game software,” the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) said last year.
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See:-
Department of Justice – LOCAL COMMERCIAL X-BOX RETAILERS PLEAD GUILTY TO COPYRIGHT FELONIES, May 31, 2005
raided the retailer – DC-area stores in Xbox raid, p2pnet, December 8, 2004
June 8th, 2005 at 12:18 am
Ok now how many of us have those modded consoles? Is it illigal to posess one? I think that the modded consoles are way better than the origionals. Think of it like this. I buy a pc and then decide to put some other add ons to it. How is this wrong? The only problem I really see here is that they sold the “xbox and games at substantial discounts”. Its kind of like buying a computer and filling it with pirated software then selling it with it on it.
But then again, did the sellers advertise “modded console full of pirated games or even modified console with lots of games cheaper than the new ones in retail?
Those modded consoles can also have emulators that play other games. The one that I have in my living room plays nintendo, snes, sega cd, sega genesis, has lots of xbox games on the disk with the other games, and even has room for tv shows. Now if that is not pretty efficient, what is? Just to buy the Xbox to play the games and have to change them and whatnot is kind of a waste isn’t it? Maybe MicroShaft needs to sell the consoles already modded with the other capabilities intact? Then again, not always the best model wins as we have seen on many occasions.
June 8th, 2005 at 9:08 am
The DMCA has created a whole new class of criminals: people who improve a product using aftermarket upgrades.
It’s been a tradition since the days of the Model T that car enthusiasts would modify their vehicles for better performance. In fact, most of the components in a modern automobile, from disk brakes to shock absorbers to radios, originated not from the Ford or GM factories, but from the consumer aftermarket.
But no one ever went to jail for selling a device that might make a car fail federal pollution standards or bumper height requirements or exhaust noise levels, or any of the many laws regulating cars.
I have to wonder how much the technological evolution of the automobile in the last hundred years would have been hampered if there were as many lawyers a century ago as there are today? Perhaps instead of “owning” your car outright, you would instead be forcefully bound to a “end user license agreement” that would not even let you upgrade the sterio without buying the official licensed one from the manufacturer – and a ‘car audio’ police to enforce it.
With more and more laws being passed that serve only to benefit the elite special interests, it’s no wonder that the USA now has the world’s biggest prison population. And a prison system increasingly run by corporations, with a growing class of prisoners who simply refused to bend to the will of corporate interests and their bought politicians.
June 8th, 2005 at 8:15 pm
I know that this is not exactly on topic, but it demostrates the arrogance of government authorities in the P.S.A. The government in the area where this occured is widely believed to be in leageu with developers trying to push out local people. While This is not necessarily about music, it is about the powerful cartels trying to take what belongs to the people.
This is how business is conducted by the Panama City Florida City commission. It is done by threatening elderly people with a 9mm pistol.
Here are some actual soundbites from the May 25,2005 City Commission Meeting.
Mayor DeGeorge nominating her choice for the airport board followed by silence and laughing.
http://www.theattackmachine.com/laughing.mp3
Commissioner Hanline giving her reason for wanting Mayor Clemmons on the airport board.
http://www.theattackmachine.com/Commonsense.mp3
The vote followed by booing and then a ridiculous exchange by Hanline and Commissioner Pilcher, implying the booos were for DeGeorge and not them. Followed by audience explaining the boos were not for DeGeorge.
http://www.theattackmachine.com/respect.mp3
First, Pilcher explains how things are done. Then he explains how the decorum will be kept in the Commission.
http://www.theattackmachine.com/Pilcher-goodolboys.mp3
The next link is where the threat actually takes place. This is the typical attitude that is predominate with the Panama City and Bay county government in Florida.
http://www.theattackmachine.com/PilcherGun.mp3
This is just one example of an arrogant government gone awry.