What! Shops charging to downgrade!

[kayhanbakid]

this may not be such a bad idea. My friend bricked his 2.71 trying to downgrade it. luckily he had a warranty. The psp just doesn't come as second nature to people who haven't been following homebrew since 2001. It gets confusing sometimes with the ta-082 and all that $#@!.

But 40$ is a bit much though.

[Sektor]

$40 AUD is around $33 US.

Sounds like a good idea to me. They are charging for a service. They spent their time reading and learning how it works and what to do. Many people don't want to do that or shouldn't be doing that since they just aren't good at following instructions or using logic. It also saves the user having to find and buy an unpatched GTA LCS (if they downgrade 3.03). If they offer a replacement if they brick it then they have even more right to charge for the service. It would be nice if the authors of the programs they used got some of those profits but unless it was in the license of the program, it's not required. Perhaps it should be added to the license of a program but i'm sure some people would ignore it.

[Chameleon]

Sounds like a good idea to me. They are charging for a service. They spent their time reading and learning how it works and what to do. Many people don't want to do that or shouldn't be doing that since they just aren't good at following instructions or using logic. It also saves the user having to find and buy an unpatched GTA LCS. If they offer a replacement if they brick it then they have even more right to charge for the service. It would be nice if the authors of the programs they used got some of those profits but unless it was in the license of the program, it's not required. Perhaps it should be added to the license of a program but i'm sure some people would ignore it.

agreed, and if people find this BS than dont use their service... its to help people who dont have the gumption or the know how to do so.

[ilovegadgets]

I am from a country where there is only around 2/3 shops that actually specialize in selling game systems. These guys have stopped selling unpatched GTA umds and are charging $30 to downgrade to 1.5. So you see I am absoulately hopeless. I have owned the PSP for around 8 months now and still haven't been able to downgrade.

[bufinjer]

This is no different than PSPBlender charging to give you free torrent info. If you don't know any better you'll pay, sad but true...

[Sektor]

I don't know anything about PSPBlender but i'm guessing the torrents were illegal but downgrading PSP firmware is legal or untested in courts in some countries. The custom firmware allows region free movies, so it would most likely be legal in Australia.

[White_Hawk_UK]

It's not a rip off. They're not charging you for the software used to downgrade, but the act of downgrading. If on the other hand, they're attempting to provide something for money that should be free (like a copy of the downgrader software), then they'd be ripping you off. What's more, they'd be doing something illegal that could result in heavy fines or a loss of trading license in most countries.

My opinion of PSPBlender on the other hand (and I make this view public wherever and whenever I can) is that it is legal only as a result of major loopholes. It is a reprehensible and disgusting way to make money off the trust of unwitting customers, and should be shut down. PSPBlender is, in every sense of the word, a scam - founded by s$#@! to con kids (and make no mistake, this is who they expect to steal from) out of their money.

The two should not be confused. PSP-Blender is akin to someone on eBay selling a copy of an otherwise freely released downgrader - though the provision of instructions written personally by the seller make this an ambiguous argument, despite the fact that instructions are also freely available elsewhere, as they can argue that they are providing a service/product on that detail alone.

A charge for performing a downgrade is requesting payment for a service performed.

The fact that I provide this service for free to friends and colleagues is my choice. If they're willing to give me money for doing something that, by rights, they should be capable of doing for themselves, then I have every right to accept it.

I choose not to charge, but it wouldn't make me a criminal if I did.

[kam30en]

If noobs need to pay to downgrade, than they should. No one is going to do it for free.

[White_Hawk_UK]

I will say this; if I was charging people for a downgrade service using, for instance, a downgrader from Noobz.eu, I would seriously consider sending a proportionate donation to them for being so kind as to provide the software in the first place.

It occurs to me that once you have identified yourself as someone making money providing a service that utilises a specific downgrader, the original coder/developer may well have a legitimate claim based on licensing.

It's tricky, especially regarding geographical variations, and I won't pretend to know enough about the applicable laws to say one way or another. My previous post may have been inaccurate in this respect... o.O

[tvrstl]

why i have done this for many, is because they ask, free offcourse.

the reason is that I'm the only one they know, knowing something 'bout it..

(I am living in a small town, so this means that I don't have to have much knowledge to be the onlyone who knows 'bout the PSP and homebrew enabling. I am just a noob anyway!)