Massive Mod Chip Raid Sweeps Nation

[Shrygue]

via Kotaku (http://kotaku.com/gaming/piracy/massive-mod-chip-raid-sweeps-nation-285007.php)


U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from nearly two dozen cities executed 32 federal search warrants in 16 states in the past 24 hours as part of a mammoth crackdown on chip modding.

Operation Tangled Web, the result of a year long investigation headed up by the ICE office in Cleveland, is the largest national enforcement action of its kind targeting the sales of modification chips and "disc copyright circumvention devices" in history.

Neither the Department of Justice nor the ESA would name the businesses, homes or storefronts involved in the sweep that took place in California, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin today.

The modchips and circumvention devices allowed users to play pirated software on the PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360 and Wii.


"Illicit devices like the ones targeted today are created with one purpose in mind, subverting copyright protections," said Julie L. Myers, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "These crimes cost legitimate businesses billions of dollars annually and facilitate multiple other layers of criminality, such as smuggling, software piracy and money laundering." Newly minted ESA chief Michael D. Gallagher was quick to offer federal kudos:


"Plain and simple, selling and distributing products to illegally bypass game consoles' piracy protections is a crime with real-life consequences. This is not a game; we're talking jail time. Enforcement initiatives of this scope send a clear message to both the public and pirate community that this illegal activity will not be tolerated," said Michael D. Gallagher, president of ESA, the trade association representing U.S. computer and video game publishers. "We commend Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Department of Justice, and the participating U.S. Attorneys' offices for targeting individuals and groups selling 'mod-chips' and pirated game software." Now that the threat of terrorism and border safety concerns are a thing of the past we can finally get down to dealing with the real threats to America's borders... dodgy copies of Wii Sports.


More information on the article here (http://kotaku.com/gaming/piracy/massive-mod-chip-raid-sweeps-nation-285007.php)

[BelmontSlayer]

Sigh...Only in America...

[zevende]

Bastards! They want to send people to jail for modchips?! Death to the ESA and everything they stand for!

[Mr_Biggs]

what a load of bullshit. they're cracking down on people running unlicensed copies of games, while johnny addict is raping our daughters. what. the. ****.

[psp411]

only america...

[Airdevil]

I know MOST people who have modchips on their consoles use it for piracy reasons.

But surely theres the odd few who use them for legit reasons?.... like for development and homebrew reasons?

[cory1492]

What it's going to do: disrupt the lives of people who deal openly and honestly in the (grey) marketplace, while making a (black) market gap for those who don't always do so. It will give the task force behind these raids "posterboy" status for essentially fishing with a frag grenade.

What it's not going to do: make a sudden spike of billions of "lost" revenue for any industry claiming such raids will benefit them.

This kind of idiocy (scope and priority) reminds me of a raid here in albert a few years ago, they had so much evidence of the crimes that they could not organize it - the entire crack/heroine dealing ring of 10+ people got let free after 1-2 years in jail, keeping them without charges would be "cruel and unusual punishment".

Airdevil: what I use my mod chips for... avoiding payment of ridiculous after warranty repair fees. Xbox ring of death, PS2 backup to HDD to extend the life of the laser (a chip is just easier in both cases); PSP to restore firmware... in all cases they have brought me peace of mind knowing that all else failing my console will still work years from now without a $100+ repair+shipping fee (provided they are still repairing them years from now, that is).

[goliath182]

Doesn't worry me mod chips LEGAL in Australia.

[VampDude]

Mod chips suck anyway, I have swap discs for my PS2 for loading homebrew :D

[Mr. Shadow]

I want to go back to germany this country sucks.

[Uberman]

Welcome to the start of America's Police State under the guise of "Homeland Security".

:(

[gronne]

Generally, I'm ethically on "their" side, but this quote is simply not true "Illicit devices like the ones targeted today are created with one purpose in mind, subverting copyright protections".

I use my xbox1 almost 100% to use XBMC.. That's all I ever do with it, games can bore me to shits... There's heaps of awesome homebrew on most hacked consoles that interest me far more than games you want to play for ten minutes... However, I do agree that MOST that have modded their consoles ALSO download and play illegal copies of games, and one cannot claim to have the right to do that. They make the games to get food on the table.

I'm just tired of people trying to use every possible explanation why they should have the right to use software some people have worked hard for.. If you think games are too expensive, protest or simply don't buy them.

[_X_Zero]

That Sux, good thing i did not mod anything

[punkonjunk]

Dear god. I'm glad federal budget is going towards this.

[-=me=-]

"32 federal search warrants"? that does sound massive.

[John Vattic]

Protect the Homeland? Didn't Hitler do something similar?

Again we see the true colors, Which is protect the corporations, not the people.

Mommy! I want to be an ESA lobyist when i grow up!

[Homerun]

Only AMerica.......

[irishwhip]

Only AMerica.......

you wish. we've had a similar situation in the uk for a couple of years now. the guy who originally modded my xbox now resides in prison
(admittedly, he was an enormous pirate too ;) )

[XDelusion]

And yet imported hard drugs and automatic weapons flood our streets.
Corporations before people. :/

[Psyberjock]

Since when are mod chips illegal in the states!? I thought land of the free home of the brave was one of the few places they were legal.

Anybody know if they're legal here in Japan? I haven't tried to find out since my Xbox and PSP don't need it.

[masamune]

never used modchips... but still this is still kinda lame.

[the_eternal_dark]

I know MOST people who have modchips on their consoles use it for piracy reasons.

But surely theres the odd few who use them for legit reasons?.... like for development and homebrew reasons?

Or playing games from other regions. My main reason.

[XDelusion]

Since when are mod chips illegal in the states!? I thought land of the free home of the brave was one of the few places they were legal.

Anybody know if they're legal here in Japan? I haven't tried to find out since my Xbox and PSP don't need it.

That America is long dead. Apparently while the Nation was distracted by Bill Clinton's oral massage, he was busy not only having peole killed in Kosovo, but also was busy here at home taking away more rights (do to some corporate lobbying behind closed doors I'm sure). I forget what it is called, but basically it states that even if a person buys something, he does not have the legal right to modify it beyond it's intended use.
I think this basically is out of paranoia of hackers, the government didn't want peole to have computers orignally, and now that we all have computers, and acess to technology, they want to take away our rights to experiement with it, and thus develope a way to spy on the spies.
That and of course it covers corporate interests, which as I stated above, there has been no crack down on the amount of hard drugs, and heavy weapons coming across our boarders, and yet they are willing to crack down on our privacy, and MOD chips and what not.
As I said America has been dead since the early 20th century, infact I'd say it died on Dec 23rd 1913.

http://www.federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/fract/


Siggghhhh, it's hard to enjoy video games sometimes when I'm living in the middle of the end...

[CreativeMind]

I would love to know what the bail for these people will be set at. Anyone willing to bet that it won't be exessively high. I mean a preacher was caught driving intoxicated, offered to perform oral sex on the cops, and took a piss outside in front of minors and his bail: 1,000. Yet, rapists, molesters, bank robbers get 5-10k for bail, I am betting these people will have bail at over 50k. Any takers?! Thought not. American justice system hard at work for Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony. Want to show these fudgepackers a thing or two. Never buy a game again. I have a modchip in my PS2, Wii, and custom firmware for my PSP and I buy 1-2 games a month. Bunch of wankers, the whole lot!

[punkonjunk]

hey, if you're not using the modchips for anything illegal, just homebrew and backup play (Lets say you could 100% prove the backup playing) is it illegal to use them?

[Tripsk8er333]

All of this Sucks ! I Really think that The "Government" should F*@k off and leave us alone. I just hope they don't start cracking down on PSP and DS modding. This Really sucks :(

[John Vattic]

The new Die Hard movie makes hackers out to be bad people too.

*Homeland Security = Terrorist Organization*-created post-9-11

nuff said.


peace

[Ichijoe]

Well thank god the Bush Administrations' Department of Homeland Security, is safely on the Scene!!

'Couse as everyone knows when you purchase a Modchip the Terrorists WIN!! </shigh> T_T

[ish420ism]

Fuk finding Osama Bin Laden. Let's find the evil mod chip sellers. PO PO, Suck a dick. Pirate for LIFE.
Oh yeah, FUK BUSH and CHENEY.

[cal360]

Do they also realise that modchips are NOT just for pirating, its so we can unlock a consoles full potential in homebrew which goes over no copyright
laws.

[ish420ism]

Do they also realise that modchips are NOT just for pirating, its so we can unlock a consoles full potential in homebrew which goes over no copyright
laws.

True. I love homebrew on as many gadgets as possible. Especially my NGAGE. Too bad it flopped commercially

[mmochel]

I for one do not have any current modded console. All of my modded units are no longer in production, it is insane to say that using a chip to play old games that are no longer made and nearly impossible to find is bad. Especially considering that the companies who made the games for them are not getting anything for the old used games anyway.

[naruto777]

My friends are moving to mexico. What are you all getting mad at? They have every right to call this illegal. They are losing billions of dollars.

[XioN980]

theres only one thing for all of you to do. Move to Australia where they are still legal MUAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA

[Eyedunno]

I can't wait until the lawsuits hit. There's no way they can prove that the only purpose of modchips is circumventing copyrights, because it simply isn't the case. I can name three important uses just off the top of my head, though I'm sure there are others:
1) Unlocking regional restrictions to use software/movies from other regions (which may not even be available in the U.S.)
2) Allowing homebrew
3) Allowing the use of backups (protected under Fair Use Doctrine)

Customs must have a team of monkeys directing this, since no decent lawyer would see any chance of winning this. Odds are that the true motivations come from companies like Sony, that know they can't win, but still pressure government agencies into these raids in the hopes of pushing some "unapproved" small businesses under.

Shame on these business criminals.


My friends are moving to mexico. What are you all getting mad at? They have every right to call this illegal. They are losing billions of dollars.
First of all, they're pulling that "billions of dollars" figure from where the sun doesn't shine.

Secondly, it's not really "lost" revenue, it's revenue they're not earning. I could stand to make trillions if I could find a way to charge people a dollar a day for sunlight. Does that mean I'm "losing" trillions of dollars because I can't charge people for sunlight? Call the police!

Thirdly, just because something causes somebody to "lose" money in this way doesn't mean it should be illegal. Sewing machines put most professional tailors out of business, but so what? The government's case rests on an assertion that modchips exist for the purpose of violating copyright, which anybody with a third grade education can prove is not the case.

[SilverDesertRain]

I just ordered a cyclowiz V2 on 31st of July from Divineo US and still waiting for my shipping confirmation. Shipping is outside US.
What will happen now? Will it be cancelled?
Any suggestions...

[Taris]

Only in America. Yea, leaving the country looks better and better every week.

EDIT: Question: Would they have seized goods in transit, stuff people have already paid for?

[mcdougall57]

im glad these are not illegal to have in the uk and its just illegal to download or have copied games

im just glad i got my wiinja deluxe early before they started

and by the way they will not see a spike in revenue or get any of the supposed lost money back because the pirates generally were not going to buy the games in the first place

[irishwhip]

im glad these are not illegal to have in the uk and its just illegal to download or have copied games

im just glad i got my wiinja deluxe early before they started

and by the way they will not see a spike in revenue or get any of the supposed lost money back because the pirates generally were not going to buy the games in the first place

type "modchip" into wikipedia.

Sony v. Ball UK High Court June 2004 in the UK, it was found that Modchips were illegal devices.

http://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/markup.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2004/1738.html

[jerrt]

yeah, this news sucks. i'm still convinced that they have more imporant things to worry about. and don't try and feed me that, "they can do this while working on the harder stuff" line. if it is a raid for modchip sellers, they aren't looking for drugs and running across modchips.

[XDelusion]

The new Die Hard movie makes hackers out to be bad people too.

*Homeland Security = Terrorist Organization*-created post-9-11

nuff said.


peace

That's funny you should mention that, I was just going off about that myself!

I just hate the one part where the hacker kid makes a negative remark about the system, then Bruce willis is like,"HEY! It's not just a system, it's a country, it's people, it's families!". Or something to that effect.
Now had I written the script I would have had the hacker kid retort,"No, it's not a system, the system bears it's weight like a burden ON TOP of the country, and ON TOP of the People, and ON TOP of the Families!". But like I said, the script writer was a moron.


One other thing they said in this movie that I'm sure a lot of people will not think through and will just accept as the only possible outcome...

...which we have in times past in Real History, which is why this is sad because the movie could have taken a moment to provoke thought, but chose instead to illistrate the illusion that we are bound by the Fed's funny money or Debt Money.


There was a scene in the film where a guy said that if the servers holding all financial records in the US should crash that we'd be tossed back into the stone age.

Rather, those who in record are said to be worth such and such dollar amount would not be worthless. As for the rest of society (those who had not horeded money via the crooked capitalist system we live under), they would get along just fine as they would have to use the barter system as a form of exchange for goods and services, rather than some piece of imaginary money that does nothing but increase the national deficit. So the irony here is that the money system as it exsists keeps us in debt and therefore eternally bound to the bankers, which to me is living in the true stone age.

http://video.google.com/url?docid=-9050474362583451279&esrc=sr1&ev=v&q=money%2Bas%2Bdebt&srcurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2Fvideoplay%3 Fdocid%3D-9050474362583451279&vidurl=%2Fvideoplay%3Fdocid%3D-9050474362583451279%26q%3Dmoney%2Bas%2Bdebt%26tota l%3D1001%26start%3D0%26num%3D10%26so%3D0%26type%3D search%26plindex%3D0&usg=AL29H23MtS4Wd8eev_K4UQJ0G2CUUXB01Q

http://video.google.com/url?docid=-1656880303867390173&esrc=sr1&ev=v&q=freedom%2Bto%2Bfascism&srcurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2Fvideoplay%3 Fdocid%3D-1656880303867390173&vidurl=%2Fvideoplay%3Fdocid%3D-1656880303867390173%26q%3Dfreedom%2Bto%2Bfascism%2 6total%3D1014%26start%3D0%26num%3D10%26so%3D0%26ty pe%3Dsearch%26plindex%3D0&usg=AL29H20MKa9O2vZ-MFw1jB2IkgjakhCuOA

[Destroyer699]

Sigh, another case of anti-modchip.

This is why the ESA fails so much. They don't know a thing about those tiny little chips.

Sure, alot of people get them to play pirated games. But then again, alot of people get them to play homebrew.

I myself have a chipped Xbox, and I wouldn't even think about playing pirated games(especially with an 8 gig harddrive). A chip isn't as bad as they claim it to be, all it does is let you run game code from the harddrive, or off other types of media. Thats all. Sure, ripped games are game code that can go on your harddrive or other types of media, but ripped games aren't the only type of game code.

In my opinion, the should be going after the people ripping the games and making tools to do so, not the 1/2 of people playing them and the 1/2 of people playing homebrew.

They really need to get a grip on what they are doing.

[Hypershell]

I understand the desire to prevent piracy, but I think if the big manufacturors and all that want to be serious about it, they should start by putting some thought into how to open up their consoles a bit more, so that there's less of a legal incentive to buy a modchip in the first place.

Why do regional lockouts even exist, if for no reason other than to harass and isolate the consumer? When I buy a PS2, one of the first games I'm getting is Namco X Capcom, which means that with it I need to get either a chip, a disc swapper, or a whole other console with a different region lock. Pardon me if my preference is to one of the earlier two.

As for homebrew, well, that is a tough one. Homebrew openings are generally the first to be exploited by pirates, but then again, the fact that there is no way for homebrew to work without bypassing a console's restrictions may be considered a major part of the problem. Wouldn't they benefit further by trying to cooperate and offering their own solution for home-based programmers? It's not that inconceivable. Say, homebrew is loaded from the memory card and not the disc drive. Commercial game is loaded, it goes to the disc drive, and re-checks whatever anti-piracy method they employ so as to prevent people from exploiting writeable media.

And then there's backups, which contrary to what corporate big-wigs would like you to think, is a legitimate concern. Loss, theft, damage not covered under warranty, these are things the consumer has to worry about. One of my favorite GBC games (Mega Man Xtreme 2) almost constantly locks up and/or refuses to start, due to what I can only assume to be wear on the contacts, and I'm still waiting for a decent DS-based emulator to surface that can run it at full speed. On the other hand, it's not as if the official guys couldn't offer a work-around if they really wanted to. Just look at Wii's Virtual Console.

So, yeah. If corporations want to protect themselves from modchips used for piracy, they can start by accomodating the legitimate user so that modchips aren't necessary for them in the first place. THEN they can crack down.

Meanwhile, the drug addicts and rapists are all friendly neighbors to us. >.> Yeah, the world is screwed up sometimes.

[Mr. Shadow]

Thats deep man.

[Dark Scion]

Republicans and democrats are two sides of the same coin and the companies should just run fornpresident since they are the ones who really run this messed up country anyway. Next election it should Sony running with MS as the vice president against Halliburton with Phizer as the vice president because the people they don't really represent American people. This pisses me off because people are losing jobs, homes, and healthcare and the real issues get swept under the rug we stop to fight to what...Mod chips?! WTF!