Hide your Mod-chips! Federal agents go after gaming pirates

chakan

chakan

CAGiversary!
Feedback
60 (100%)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070801/ap_on_hi_te/customs_gaming_raids
[quote name='yahoo'] Federal agents go after gaming pirates

By DAN CATERINICCHIA, AP Business Writer 2 hours, 37 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Federal customs agents Wednesday raided more than 30 businesses and homes in 16 states, looking for devices that allow pirated video games to play on Wiis, PlayStation 2s and Xboxes.


The alleged sale and distribution of illegal modification chips and copyright circumvention devices for the popular consoles and others included 32 search warrants in 16 states, said the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE declined to release the names of those targeted but said they are allegedly responsible for importing, installing, selling and distributing foreign-made devices smuggled into the U.S.

Illegal chips and other devices used on gaming consoles violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Sales of counterfeit or illegally obtained games costs the industry about $3 billion a year globally, not including Internet piracy, estimates the Entertainment Software Association trade group.

Piracy losses for Nintendo and its game developers and publishers likely totaled $762 million last year alone, said Jodi Daugherty, senior director of anti-piracy at Redmond, Wash.-based Nintendo America.

Daugherty's five-person team coordinates global anti-piracy efforts for Nintendo's Japan-based parent company. Since April, the company has helped law enforcement agencies worldwide seize 61,000 counterfeit Wii modification chips, she said.

Wednesday's federal raids came after a yearlong investigation conducted by ICE's Office of the Assistant Special Agent in Charge in Cleveland, which coordinated with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio and the Department of Justice's Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section. ICE said it also received assistance from companies and industry trade groups.

"Illicit devices like the ones targeted today are created with one purpose in mind, subverting copyright protections," Julie L. Myers, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for ICE, said in a release. "These crimes cost legitimate businesses billions of dollars annually and facilitate multiple other layers of criminality, such as smuggling, software piracy and money laundering."

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft Corp. issued a statement applauding ICE's efforts to reduce piracy and protect the gaming industry's intellectual property. A company spokeswoman would not divulge Microsoft's individual piracy losses.

The raids were conducted in: California, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.[/QUOTE]

Hope no CAGS ordered chips from any of the online sellers whose inventory records were seized.
 
[quote name='Chacrana']The Digital Millennium Copyright Act can blow me. I'll do what I want.[/QUOTE]

Damn right! We all have a right to steal other people's intellecutal property! Just because they invested millions of dollars and immense amounts of time developing that game does not mean we should have to actually pay them for it.
 
[quote name='Chacrana']The Digital Millennium Copyright Act can blow me. I'll do what I want.[/quote]

Ditto. Not all laws are just. I reserve the right to modify hardware that I own.
 
[quote name='Cornfedwb']Damn right! We all have a right to steal other people's intellecutal property! Just because they invested millions of dollars and immense amounts of time developing that game does not mean we should have to actually pay them for it.[/quote]

I don't know of any mod chip or device that ONLY enables you to pirate games. It's usually only 1 of about 10 (legal) features.
 
[quote name='Cornfedwb']Damn right! We all have a right to steal other people's intellecutal property! Just because they invested millions of dollars and immense amounts of time developing that game does not mean we should have to actually pay them for it.[/QUOTE]

Did I say or even imply all that? I have my mod chips for import games. I don't have a single pirated game, movie, or song, so it's not as though I'm trying to justify stealing.
 
Which of these modchips are "illegal"? I don't know of any modchips that don't have plenty of legal features and benefits and uses.

I wish Julie L. Myers would tell me which devices are made with only the ability to play stolen games.
 
[quote name='PyroGamer']Which of these modchips are "illegal"? I don't know of any modchips that don't have plenty of legal features and benefits and uses.

I wish Julie L. Myers would tell me which devices are made with only the ability to play stolen games.[/quote]

Well, TECHNICALLY, P2P software and bittorrent sites are supposed to be legal as well, but those have been getting shut down for years.
 
[quote name='Vegan']Well, TECHNICALLY, P2P software and bittorrent sites are supposed to be legal as well, but those have been getting shut down for years.[/QUOTE]
For illegal activity....


P2P SOFTWARE and BitTorrent especially are used for many legal ventures (though certainly not coming close to rival the illegal ventures), and they are legal, but sites which violate copywrite by dissimating copywrighted content are shutdown because they are illegal.
 
Wow it's a good thing all the important life threatening problems in the world have all been taken care of, so they can waste their time on CIVIL matters like these where nobodies safety is in danger.
 
[quote name='porieux']Wow it's a good thing all the important life threatening problems in the world have all been taken care of, so they can waste their time on CIVIL matters like these where nobodies safety is in danger.[/QUOTE]
lol, War on Piracy!!!
 
My Mod chip only serves to do imports, which I buy from importers as opposed to stealing them like a cheap bastard. If the Feds want to raid my house, they'll see 3000+ authentic games and walk out the door. I do not own a single pirated game.
 
[quote name='Survivor Charlie']My Mod chip only serves to do imports, which I buy from importers as opposed to stealing them like a cheap bastard. If the Feds want to raid my house, they'll see 3000+ authentic games and walk out the door.[/quote]

Keep telling yourself they'll walk out the door. They're in the pockets of these mega-companies, who don't even want you importing games (for some wacky reason).
 
Considering that games are now mostly region free, I don't see what the fuss is about with imports. With only one exception (Honeycomb Beat for the Nintendo DS, which I assumed would never be released in the states) every game I ever imported was never released in the United States.

So screw the game companies on the issue of imports. If they came out in the US, I would have bought them.
 
[quote name='Vegan']Keep telling yourself they'll walk out the door. They're in the pockets of these mega-companies, who don't even want you importing games (for some wacky reason).[/QUOTE]

If companies were really concerned about imports hurting sales of domestic games, wouldn't companies strive to make the importation of foreign systems illegal or at least make it more difficult? I forget if that's what Sony was doing in that Lik-Sang debacle... hmm...

Well, either way, I don't care what Sony, Nintendo, and MS think is acceptable.
 
[quote name='PyroGamer']For illegal activity....


P2P SOFTWARE and BitTorrent especially are used for many legal ventures (though certainly not coming close to rival the illegal ventures), and they are legal, but sites which violate copywrite by dissimating copywrighted content are shutdown because they are illegal.[/QUOTE]

Minor correction: It's copy-RIGHT, not write. Just wanted to clarify.

And from the article, it sounds like they were only going after distributors, not individual customers. It would be hard to prove probable cause for a specific user that he is using the chip illegally, and would certainly be a waste of manpower to target individual recipients instead of the suppliers themselves. I still don't see, though, how they prove these devices are made for illegal purposes only. My guess is that they get a lengthy criminal court battle, then a following civil suit from the game makers, which may even exonerate them, then are forced to go out of business from bankruptcy.
 
[quote name='Chacrana']If companies were really concerned about imports hurting sales of domestic games, wouldn't companies strive to make the importation of foreign systems illegal or at least make it more difficult? I forget if that's what Sony was doing in that Lik-Sang debacle... hmm...

Well, either way, I don't care what Sony, Nintendo, and MS think is acceptable.[/quote]
From what I remember, the PSP wasn't out in Europe yet, and Sony of Europe was pissed off that Sony of Japan was getting credit for the sales. There's no practical reason for stopping it; they're still getting their money; but it fucks up the numbers so they don't like it.
 
Don't copy that floppy

Don't mod that box

Don't burn that disc

Don't infringe upon that intellectual property without the owner's permission unless it's in the case of parody or something


haha, well, glad all my modding and burning days are over. not that I would get busted. because all this is just to scare. periodically they do this to make it look like they are doing their jobs.
 
Nobody really cares about this at all. You just need to modify the Bios and the Region code if any. Nobody really cares. Only be concern if they attack people who sell other intresting merchandise besides Upgrades and downgrades.

Still lets all just remember why they have Region coding, PAL, and diffrent shaped slots.

It's kinda anal the fact that they want to prevent you from playing games or video from other countries. In fact they want you to have more then one of the same system inside your house. Pretty soon we are going to be jailed like Britain and then some ahole ( you know who you are ) is going to fight for a retarded bill that puts everybody on the nanny cam.

Everytime I turn on the news the world just seem so dumbtarded.
 
[quote name='Cornfedwb']Damn right! We all have a right to steal other people's intellecutal property! Just because they invested millions of dollars and immense amounts of time developing that game does not mean we should have to actually pay them for it.[/quote]
And it's just fine to be a fan of glorified murderers!

I can make ridiculous assumptions about my fellow forum-goers as well, capisce?
 
[quote name='Survivor Charlie']Considering that games are now mostly region free, I don't see what the fuss is about with imports.[/quote]
Wut?

PlayStation 2: Region Locked
GameCube: Region Locked
Xbox: Region Locked
Xbox 360: Region Locked
PlayStation 3: Region Free
Wii: Region Locked

Five out of six consoles are region locked. We're not counting handhelds as it's a given that those will generally always be region free and always have been. Consoles, however, are not.

But damn, if we can find gamers like this and arrest them so easily, why they hell don't we have bin Laden? >_>
 
[quote name='Tsukento']Wut?

PlayStation 2: Region Locked
GameCube: Region Locked
Xbox: Region Locked
Xbox 360: Region Locked
PlayStation 3: Region Free
Wii: Region Locked

Five out of six consoles are region locked. We're not counting handhelds as it's a given that those will generally always be region free and always have been. Consoles, however, are not.

But damn, if we can find gamers like this and arrest them so easily, why they hell don't we have bin Laden? >_>[/quote]

He said games, not consoles. Many games for the 360 are not region locked even though the consoles are. Still, there are not that many unlocked games.
 
You all really need to read the article more closely
ICE declined to release the names of those targeted but said they are allegedly responsible for importing, installing, selling and distributing foreign-made devices smuggled into the U.S.
Click to expand...

They are going after suppliers of the chips, not end users.
 
Unless the people arrested actually have pirated games in their homes, or on their posession, these charges wont stick.

A mod chip is NOT Illegal.

Its just a fucking circuit board for chrissakes.

As long as those arrested have good lawyers they should get off.

Hey a VCR can be used to make illegal copies of VHS movies, do we round up everyone selling VCR's? What about the double cassette decks we all had many years ago?

Its the same thing.

Just because a device can be used for illegal purposes does not make the device itself illegal. Importing, and selling modchips is not illegal. And you have the right to do whatever the hell you want to your console as long as you dont mind losing your warranty.

Those cable boxes that let you get free PPV arent illegal either, for the same reasons. If you watch a PPV using the device, then thats illegal.
 
I wonder if it's actually illegal to have mod chips under the DMCA though... I mean, yeah, that would be moronic beyond belief, but it could be in there somewhere.

Either way, going after a few suppliers isn't going to accomplish anything. If they really wanted to crack down, they'd go after end users to at least make people more weary of buying mod chips at all. Though both tactics are pretty futile given the sheer number of people out there with mod chips.
 
[quote name='Puffa469']Unless the people arrested actually have pirated games in their homes, or on their posession, these charges wont stick.


*BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH *


Those cable boxes that let you get free PPV arent illegal either, for the same reasons. If you watch a PPV using the device, then thats illegal.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, that's how it should be, sure. Welcome to the Digital Millenium age, where trillion dollar corperations decide what's what's a moral imperitive based on their skewed perspective on how much profit it turns in for them.
 
I agree how moronic this is. They have done this before so I wouldn't be too concerned. I would only want to use swap magic and a slide card to play the 4 imports I just obtained. I seriously think that the game industry caused the pirating problem by not making consoles region free. Most people install mod chips to play imports first and then become tempted to pirate games. If PS2 was region free, I would have no need for swap magic. I just want to play Japan import games that will never come out in the USA.
 
Modchips are illegal in the US under the DMCA. Anything that allows you to circumvent copyright protection (which most modchips do), is illegal under the DMCA.

Stupid, but true.
 
[quote name='lebowsky']Modchips are illegal in the US under the DMCA. Anything that allows you to circumvent copyright protection (which most modchips do), is illegal under the DMCA.[/QUOTE]
Well I know that's not completely true, because I still own a computer.
 
[quote name='lebowsky']True, your PC could be used for that, but it wasn't designed specifically for that reason.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modchip#USA_legality_under_DMCA[/QUOTE]


[quote name='Wiki'][Mod-chips are illegal] because the device circumvents the copy-protection features of their host systems.[/quote]
PC's circumvent copy-protection, but they are not illegal. I also see no links on that Wiki page for supporting evidence, but I am going to put up some "citation needed" tags on that page.
 
True, your PC could be used for that, but it wasn't designed specifically for that reason. I'm not saying that all modchips are created for the express purpose of circumventing copyright protection, but that is how they are being prosecuted under the DMCA.
Click to expand...




If thats true then the DMCA is unconstitutional.

Im sure clueless lawmakers stuck all kinds of nonsense into that act when it was passed. They were paid off by their lobbyists and probably never even read the legislation before they voted on it.

Ya know, it seems to me that the primary purpose of Handguns, is to kill humans, yet the gun lobby is too strong to take on, so lawmakers busy themselves with softball issues like this.
 
This is just about them trying to suck money from our pockets and screw everybody over who is a Bill Nyne and turn us into a bunch of Homer Simpson users.
 
[quote name='lebowsky']Modchips are illegal in the US under the DMCA. Anything that allows you to circumvent copyright protection (which most modchips do), is illegal under the DMCA.

Stupid, but true.[/quote]

So does this mean swap disc are illegal too. Even though, I would only use it to play imports.
 
[quote name='lebowsky']Modchips are illegal in the US under the DMCA. Anything that allows you to circumvent copyright protection (which most modchips do), is illegal under the DMCA.[/QUOTE]Better hide your DreamCast. ;)
 
[quote name='Puffa469']If thats true then the DMCA is unconstitutional.[/QUOTE]
What part of the consitution does it violate?
 
[quote name='PyroGamer']What part of the consitution does it violate?[/quote]

A group of 46 law professors found the entire DMCA to be unconstitutional.
Heres a link and a quick summary of why they feel the way they do.


http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/MPAA_DVD_cases/20010126_ny_lawprofs_amicus.html

Congress may legislate only pursuant to a power specifically enumerated in the
Constitution. Neither the text nor the legislative history of the DMCA
indicates which power Congress relied on to enact the anti-device provisions.
Even if Congress had specified a particular source of constitutional authority,
however, it would not matter. The DMCA's anti-device provisions are not a valid
exercise of any of Congress' enumerated powers. They prohibit devices without
regard for originality, duration of copyright, or infringement of copyright in
the underlying, technologically-protected work; therefore, they are not a valid
exercise of the intellectual property power. Nor are they a lawful exercise of
the necessary and proper power or the commerce power, because they contravene
specific limits on Congress' power under the Intellectual Property Clause. As a
separate ground of invalidity, the anti-device provisions also violate limits
on the scope of copyright protection required by the First Amendment.
 
[quote name='Puffa469']A group of 46 law professors found the entire DMCA to be unconstitutional.
Heres a link and a quick summary of why they feel the way they do.[/QUOTE]
Hooray for google.


I was asking YOU why YOU thought it was unconstitutional, not to give me the first result or a google search for "dmca unconstitutional".
 
[quote name='PyroGamer']Hooray for google.


I was asking YOU why YOU thought it was unconstitutional, not to give me the first result or a google search for "dmca unconstitutional".[/quote]

Im at work guy, your lucky you got that. ;)
 
[quote name='Chacrana']If companies were really concerned about imports hurting sales of domestic games, wouldn't companies strive to make the importation of foreign systems illegal or at least make it more difficult? I forget if that's what Sony was doing in that Lik-Sang debacle... hmm...[/quote]

My understanding of the PSP import thing is that the ones being imported are on a different voltage standard for charging, which can be dangerous, even with converters (I recall a news story in the past year of a young British boy who died in a hotel fire in Thailand when his GBA was charging).

So, it was a safety thing, they didn't want potential fire hazards being imported in large quantities, and most import sites complied. Lik-Sang didn't, so they took legal action.

Granted, the final ruling was based on Sony's copyright and trademark rights, so it was probably a little of both, but from what I've heard, Sony doesn't deserve all of the shit they get for 'shutting down' Lik-Sang.
 
Anyone notice that all of the articles (esp. on the Kotaku link) say that they targeted mod chip sellers for PS2, Wii, Xbox, and Xbox 360. This is almost on par with the Today show announcing the 360 recall, b/c last i checked, the 360 has NO working mod chips.

Good thing media outlets do their homework before posting news stories, makes me feel a lot better about Fox News.
 
Off the top of my head, I think the only modded system I still have hanging around is an ancient, launch PSX that only runs half the time and only then if it's turned upside down. I don't even know if the damn thing runs bootlegs, I got it modded for Gran Turismo back in the day.
 
[quote name='lebowsky']Ah, but my Dreamcast isn't modded my friend.[/QUOTE]
Ah, but even un-modded, it "allows you to circumvent copy protection", which is apparently the deciding factor on any given mass of silicon and transistor's legality.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top