Is custom firmware illegal?

Hi ppl,

I try not to ask too many questions but cant seem to find an answer to this one. Is it illegal to flash cfw to a psp?

I ask because a local mobile phone shop has been leafleting (putting out flyers) advertising "Have your games console repaired OR modded. You will then be able to play your game backups" next to a picture of a psp.
I rang em up and asked how much and he said 20 quid (40 dollarsish) to "CHIP" psp. I then asked if he needed to open the psp up to "CHIP" it and he said not. Therefore i'm assuming he's using a jigkick/pandora/service battery to flash the machines.

Is it legal to do this? I think it's a disgrace if its not, not only cos flashed psp's are mainly used to play copies but also cos DAX did so much hard work only to have it stolen by ar*eholes.

:confused:

Thanks in advance to anyone who can shed some light on this

In Australia it's not illegal to put a modchip your own console, nor is it illegal to have a buisness based on modding other people's.
A while back sony sued a guy for installing modchips, they lost (modchips were legal). Sony then appealed to the supreme court and won (modchips were illegal). The guy then appealed to the high court (the highest court in the country) and won (modchips were legal again, largely based on their ability to remove region locking which the judge made note of objecting to).

Distributing all the files to make a pandora's battery is illegal as it is modified sony code, that's why it was released in a way that requires you to have a homebrew-capable PSP to run a program that creates them from DAX's code and official firmware installer files. I'm unsure about the legality of just using them to provide a service but based on the lack of technical knowledge of (most, not all) judges I would assume that's (currently) fine also.

While 20 Pounds is a complete ripoff, I'm sure C&D knew it would happen even before their work was leaked pre-release and people started charging others to use it.
Anyone who wants to downgrade a PSP or run homebrew will find out about pandora if they do the slightest bit of research via google, so only morons or people willing to pay that amount for the service knowing full well it's free origins will be giving the guy any money.
He sounds like a jerk but I wouldn't loose sleep over it.

I'm personally against piracy, but I dont hate the CFWs.
It's crazy when sometimes the same people who complain about the government becoming a 'nanny' state also seem to act as though something being legal somehow means it must be moral (and vice versa).

It's about personal responsibility, you wouldn't feel ok about killing people if they made it legal would you?


Every country has differing laws, despite the USA's best efforts to force their world view on others.

Why dun u report those bastards to the police. :D

No it's not illegal. Even modchips aren't illegal. They're only illegal when you use them to play backups of games you never bought.

yes the illegal part is playing games you dont own
you are legally allowed to make a back up of any game/music/movie that you own
you do need a modchip/CFW to play those
but you arent allowed to download ISOs/roms/mp3s/videofiles of things you DO NOT own

the law changes all the time,
often when a court makes a judgement about a previously undecided issue.

A good lawyer could try to make the case that this CFW flashing business
is illegal
because it involves a public distribution of modified Sony code,
but it would be an expensive gamble to
bring the case.

Thanks for the various info. I know this is always a 2 sided debate. So its not a copyright infringement? If i was to report it, to whom would i do it?

Is a hammer illegal?
It all comes down to what you use it for.

the way the people where advertising certainly was illegal

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MicroNut

Is a hammer illegal?
It all comes down to what you use it for.

---

This is how it should be.

However, the stereotype of us "hackers" is that we're evil and crap. So, the public's conception is that modding is illegal.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ExcruciationX

This is how it should be.

However, the stereotype of us "hackers" is that we're evil and crap. So, the public's conception is that modding is illegal.

---

I agree.
Language is very important.
It helps to determine intent and define principle.

The term "Hacker" in it purest historical sense is a compliment in the world of computing.
However, the general public uses it to describe anything from a poor authors to thieves.

To complicate things even more the moral aspects of ISO Backups, Homebrew and Intellectual Property rights run together like spaghetti.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MicroNut

Is a hammer illegal?
It all comes down to what you use it for.

---

yup

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MicroNut

....The term "Hacker" in it purest historical sense is a compliment in the world of computing.
However, the general public uses it to describe anything from a poor authors to thieves.

To complicate things even more the moral aspects of ISO Backups, Homebrew and Intellectual Property rights run together like spaghetti.

---

Eloquently put. :)