ICE seizes modchips in 16 states
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement mobilized today against a major threat: modchips. In "the largest national enforcement action of its kind targeting this type of illegal activity", they executed 32 search warrants of suspected modchip distributors. Nintendo put out a press release, which can be found after the break, in support of the government's actions in support of their massive business. "Nintendo and its developers and publishers lost an estimated $762 million in sales in 2006 due to piracy of its products," said Jodi Daugherty, Nintendo of America's senior director of anti-piracy, presumably counting every known piece of pirated software as a lost full-price sale.
The government (and Nintendo) may see console modding as a black-and-white piracy issue, but it isn't at all. Modchips are primarily designed to enable the use of games imported from other regions, the locking of which on consoles is also used to lock out illegal copies. Turn off region lock, and you cut the audience for mod chips significantly. But even beyond opening up other regions, modchips enable users to extend the utility of their consoles in interesting ways. For an example of modchips being used for awesome, we point at the Xbox Media Center, which allows audio and video media of pretty much any format to be played on a $150 Xbox.
Nintendo statement, August 1:
Today U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents executed 32 federal search warrants in 16 states as part of an investigation into the alleged sale and distribution of illegal modification chips for various video game consoles, including Nintendo's Wii home video game system. The mod chips designed for the Wii console circumvent the security embedded in the hardware and allow users to play counterfeit Wii software.
This Immigrations and Customs Enforcement investigation represents the largest national enforcement action of its kind targeting video game piracy. Nintendo has worked closely with this branch of the Department of Homeland Security, and fully supports its actions and other investigations currently underway.
"Nintendo and its developers and publishers lost an estimated $762 million in sales in 2006 due to piracy of its products," said Jodi Daugherty, Nintendo of America's senior director of anti-piracy. "Nintendo's anti-piracy team works closely with law enforcement officials worldwide to seize mod chips and counterfeit software. Since April, Nintendo has seized more than 91,000 counterfeit Wii discs globally."
[Via GoNintendo]
