UK court rules that modchips do not circumvent copyright protection

via Engadget


Here in the US, we've heard some pretty terrifying experiences about selling modchips, but it seems as if higher-ups in the UK are being a bit more reasonable about the whole thing. Reportedly, UK-based MrModchips was cleared of all 26 counts against him for his role in importing and selling console modchips, as the Court of Appeal Criminal Division (Judge Justice Jacobs, in particular) ruled that said chips do not circumvent copyright protection. Better still, the defendant was "awarded full costs as a result of his successful appeal," and we can only assume he was smiling all the way out of the crowded courtroom. Chalk one up for the little guy.

It's good to know that there are still a handful of people who are willing to listen. Mod chips don't make people run illegal software. It's just that some people choose to live a pirates life.

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ruled that said chips do not circumvent copyright protection.

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I don't get it?

Yes using a mod chip does circumvent the copyright protection, if that means allowing your games console to play copy/pirated games!

And ok some/few people only use such a chip for homebrew but the vast majority use these chips to play pirated games i bet, I DO :thumbup:

Anyway just my 2 cents worth .....

paul

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The granting of this appeal based on the argument that the copyright infringement has already taken place before the use of a modchip has resulted in the squashing of all 26 counts against MrModchips

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That's true, pirates and players who use pirated copies are the only ones violating copyright law.

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Originally Posted by paul3100

I don't get it?

Yes using a mod chip does circumvent the copyright protection, if that means allowing your games console to play copy/pirated games!

And ok some/few people only use such a chip for homebrew but the vast majority use these chips to play pirated games i bet, I DO :thumbup:

Anyway just my 2 cents worth .....

paul

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i bet alot more people use their mod chips for legit purposes than you think.

just sayin...
[Matt]

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Originally Posted by some_guy_named_matt

i bet alot more people use their mod chips for legit purposes than you think.

just sayin...
[Matt]

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A workable case for a modchip crackdown could be better made once the practice of region coding ends.

I think the lawyers probably argued that the mod chips don't actually break copyright law, that is done by the people who distribute the isos etc. and this judge agreed with them.

The good news is now that a judge has ruled this way this is now the law, so that protects anybody who does use their mod chips for legit purposes.

so does this mean that nintendo cannot purposely disable wii's in the uk?

so does this mean that nintendo cannot purposely disable wii's in the uk?

I don't know, they may release an update "incompatible" with modded consoles (once you've modded it Nintendo no longer have to provide support) and it could "coincidentally" brick modded consoles.

I think they're probably entitled to withdraw online support- like MS did with xboxes with the hard drives replaced.

I don't know if Nintendo wants to brick consoles, as whenever you update it tells you if the console has been modded it could damage it etc.

I don't know, they may release an update "incompatible" with modded consoles (once you've modded it Nintendo no longer have to provide support) and it could "coincidentally" brick modded consoles.

I think they're probably entitled to withdraw online support- like MS did with xboxes with the hard drives replaced.

I don't know if Nintendo wants to brick consoles, as whenever you update it tells you if the console has been modded it could damage it etc.

It's unrealistic to think that the manufacturer should be held responsible for end-user modifications. They have no way of predicting that, and since they are made by an unlicensed 3rd party, have no real responsibility for compatibility. They're gracious enough to warn you of the consequences, if you agree in spite of that, then whatever happens to your console is on you.

It's not as if brickings due to updates are always intentional, either. Remember what Mario Kart DS did to Flashme? Someone saw some empty space in the DS's firmware, and it didn't occur to them that space was needed to store Wifi settings. So the first Wifi game overwrites a segment of custom firmware, and boom.

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Originally Posted by Qmark

A workable case for a modchip crackdown could be better made once the practice of region coding ends.

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Amen. The full and sole reason I bought a PS2 Swap Magic was for Namco X Capcom.