First UK conviction for chipping games consoles

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For the first time in the UK, a man has been convicted for illegally modding games consoles. The 22-year-old was found guilty at Caerphilly Magistrates Court for his sideline in extended Xboxes. He sold the Microsoft consoles via his website for £380, having fitted them with a 200GB hard drive and 80 pre-installed games. ELSPA (the Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association) led the investigation, informing the Gwent Constabulary and Caerphilly County Borough Council Trading Standards. It stated that the retail cost of the package he put together, if it was genuine and unmodified, would have been around £3,000. 'This case today sets a major precedent which marks a milestone in the fight against piracy and in protecting the games industry's intellectual property,' said Mike Rawlinson, deputy director general of ELSPA. 'It 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. 'The modification of consoles is an activity that ELSPA's anti-piracy team is prioritising - it is encouraging to see the UK courts do the same,' added Rawlinson. As it was his first offence, the man was ordered to do 140 hours if community service, pay £750 costs and forfeit all of the equipment that was seized. This included three tower PCs, two printers, three Xbox consoles and 38 hard-drives. The modification of consoles has been illegal since October 2003, when the Patent Office brought it under the scope of the Copyright Directive Act. This made the whole process of chipping consoles illegal, including selling and advertising chips as well as providing a service for chipping. Alun Williams

Wow...pretty lenient punishment in my opinion.

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Originally posted by Swamper If you want to bitch and whine about your sig being edited then PM me with what it was and I'll look into it. Posting a thread about this wastes everyone's time

Not quite the right title used...

He's being charged for selling the modded X-Box's rather than actually modding them.

Ok... there trying too make this about chipping consoles but the real problem here is

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He sold the Microsoft consoles......and 80 pre-installed games.

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Originally posted by godm0de Ok... there trying too make this about chipping consoles but the real problem here is

Do note that they don't mention whether they are current X-Box titles or that of emulation and other consoles. They just labeled it as "games". Ignorant reporters.

what really shits me about the whole thing is that modding wasnt just about pirating games, but allowing different releases (and exclusive titles) to play on the one consolde (similar to DVD region cracking).

i dont play console games but its frustrating to see. sure, he shouldnt be selling all those pirated games, but now they can tell us \"hey, you can buy this system from us, but youre not allowed to alter it in any way\"??

get fucked.

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Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN what really shits me about the whole thing is that modding wasnt just about pirating games, but allowing different releases (and exclusive titles) to play on the one consolde (similar to DVD region cracking). i dont play console games but its frustrating to see. sure, he shouldnt be selling all those pirated games, but now they can tell us \"hey, you can buy this system from us, but youre not allowed to alter it in any way\"?? get fucked.

I think you're missing the point a bit.

The resale of a voided warranty X-Box is illegal, apparently. Mod Chips are sold for the intent of allowing the user to unlock their console so as to use it for foreign game play and backups, just in case. Otherwise, the rest which the user opts to do is illegal, so to say.

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Originally posted by Yan I think you're missing the point a bit. The resale of a voided warranty X-Box is illegal, apparently. Mod Chips are sold for the intent of allowing the user to unlock their console so as to use it for foreign game play and backups, just in case. Otherwise, the rest which the user opts to do is illegal, so to say.

not at all. coz i think the point IS

\"The *modification* of consoles has been illegal since October 2003, when the Patent Office brought it under the scope of the Copyright Directive Act.\"

the rest of the article is old news- pirating games & selling them is illegal. the fact that the pirated games were on a modded console & sold as part of a business is illegal is hardly surprising.

that mod chips are illegal is much more important imo. its just another way business attempts to monopolise and control different markets, and i think its a disgrace ala DVD region coding
(that is, if any modification is illegal, regardless of use)

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