UK Again Says That Mod Chipping Isn't Legal

from the you-bought-it,-but-you-don't-own-it dept

The war against actually being able to own the products you (thought you) bought continues. An appeal by a guy convicted for installing mod chips in video game consoles in the UK has been rejected. Even though the guy himself might not have been violating copyright law, apparently the fact that such mod chips could be used by others to potentially violate copyright law is enough to get him convicted. So, basically, modifying the hardware that you legally purchased? Not legal.

And... in somewhat related news, a bunch of folks have sent in the story of Microsoft cutting off what may be hundreds of thousands of players from Xbox Live for using modded consoles. Microsoft, obviously, is trying to stop players from cheating (one use of a modded console), which is understandable, and certainly within Microsoft's right. Still, the action does come across as a bit heavy handed. There are perfectly good reasons to mod a gaming console, such as to play unofficial games -- and as much as I understand the desire to stop people from cheating or playing pirated games, it still seems like you should be able to modify hardware that you legally purchased.

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Microsoft Wants To Block Out 3rd Party Storage

from the freedom-to-tinker? dept

faceless writes "Xbox Live's Major Nelson (aka Microsoft's Larry Hyrb, Director of Programming for Xbox Live) announced on his blog that the newest Xbox 360 Dashboard update will block unauthorized 3rd party memory devices. These 3rd party items are big sellers because Microsoft charges $30 for a 512MB Memory card and $130 for a 120GB HDD. A 3rd Party 2GB Memory Card is $40 and is also expandable as it supports Micro SDHC cards. A 3rd party HDD is $70, and the Microsoft HDD's are just 2.5" drives in a proprietary enclosure.

Consumers having larger memory devices is good for Microsoft, since more space means people can buy more Xbox Live Arcade games and more Downloadable Content such as new map packs, levels and expansions for retail disk based games, as well as buying and renting Movies and TV Shows via the Xbox 360's online marketplace. Another important factor is these devices have been sold for years. In the case of the hard drives, the Microsoft and 3rd party devices look identical, so many consumers may not even know that they have purchased an unauthorized device.

People on various videogame forums, such as NeoGAF are worried about the content they bought not working and not even being able to get online on their Xbox 360 console if their memory device is locked out by the update."

Once again, this seems incredibly short-sighted by Microsoft. The idea of breaking legitimately purchased hardware that makes the core of Microsoft's profit center (the games) more valuable, this only serves to piss off Microsoft customers and drive them away from Microsoft. Blocking out third party hardware -- especially without a detailed explanation for why -- goes against the basic right to do what you want with your own, legally purchased, hardware.

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We Need A Freedom To Tinker Law... Not Just A Right To Repair

from the take-it-further dept

The EFF has a post about the proposed "Right to Repair" law that would stop the practice of car companies locking up diagnostic codes and information in onboard car computers.

These codes have been used to force car owners to go to dealers, rather than independent car repair shops, basically using the DMCA to backstop the plan. This is (of course) an abuse of the DMCA in many ways (it wasn't intended for this purpose at all). So while it's good to see this bill put forth to deal with this specific problem (and, as the EFF notes, amazing to see the Libertarian Party and the Green Party both sign off on it), the real issue is the fact that this bill needs to be there in the first place -- and the fact that it's only limited to car repairs.

Ideally, the solution would be to get rid of the DMCA's anti-circumvention rules, but the EFF suggests a more universal "Right to Repair" Act. I'd even take it a step further and say, why not a "Freedom to Tinker Act"? This goes beyond just "repairing," and to basic tinkering -- which is often found at the root of innovation. Companies are abusing copyright law in many ways to prevent any kind of tinkering whatsoever, beyond just repairing. Doing so clearly goes against the entire purpose of copyright law, and it would be great to stop that kind of abuse.

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Homeland Security Tries To Make Dubious Connection Between Mod Chippers And Money Laundering

from the don't-they-have-something-better-to-do? dept

We've written about the mod chip saga for years. Basically, mod chips let you change what a video game console can do. It's often used by people who want to play unauthorized games, but there are legitimate reasons to modify your video game system. Considering that it's a purchased item, you would think that the owner would have every right to tinker with it however they saw fit -- but you would be wrong. Buzz writes in to let us know that mod chips are back in the headlines as again as customs agents raided 32 homes and businesses to look for mod chips. It's not clear why the feds should get involved in what someone does to legally purchased hardware, but that's the world we live in these days. Thanks to the DMCA, having anything that can circumvent copy protection is illegal. The press release quotes from the Department of Homeland Security are really stepping into ridiculous territory, though: "These crimes cost legitimate businesses billions of dollars annually and facilitate multiple other layers of criminality, such as smuggling, software piracy and money laundering." That's right. First cite bogus claims about imaginary "losses" and then, to make it actually sound like a big deal, try to imply that it's involved in organized crime by saying it's associated with smuggling and money laundering. Of course, there wouldn't be any issue with "smuggling" if the law wasn't criminalizing modifying a product that you legitimately purchased.

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