Just when you thought it was safe to get out your soldering irons, Immigration and Customs Enforcement wants you to know that its agents are still out there, on the lookout for for even more
mod chip-wielding nogoodniks and their non-
DMCA compliant consoles. According to the AP, a 27-year-old CSU student named Matthew Crippen was recently arrested for "modifying Xbox, PlayStation and Wii consoles in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act" and released Monday on $5,000 bond. The dime was dropped on this perp by the Entertainment Software Association, and the raid conducted by Customs agents sometime in May. He will be arraigned on August 10th, and if convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison. Let this be a lesson to you: while the ICE may have its hands full with human slavery, drug trafficking, transnational gangs, and stolen artifacts, there is always time to make an example out of a man that knows his way around the inside of a Playstation.
posted August 4th 2009 8:32PM
Get Sony to drop this shameful legal action. Pledge not to buy a Sony console and let them know where you stand:
Sir Howard Stringer
Sony Corp CEO
1-7-1 Konan, Minato-ku
Tokyo 108-0075, Japan
Source: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/
This is sum absolut bullshit YOU own the consoles and therefore YOU should be able to do whatever the fuck you want to do with it!!!!!!!!....this shit is just mind blowing
Actually Seni, he *is* right, because nowhere in the gun analogy did either of them make a reference to modifying firearms. That was never their comparison. You just completely changed the argument so you could look smart, but instead you've failed because you're an arse hat.
In the end, it's OLD TECH that speaks the loudest. For now. Writing in this forum does nothing.
Maybe this is the guy I saw on craigslist... Look up craigslist classified adds and see all the people advertising modding services or selling pre-modified consoles (especially xbox 360s) I wouldn't be surprised if these people get arrested also...
no harm done i feel
homebrewing is legal.
As long as he didnt sell any pirated games I dont see thing going through
If you can't open it, you don't own it
Since when is it a crime to mod something you own? If it is give me make the full cost of the system right now.
your a dumbass draven
Yes it was illegal, and I do believe he should have been fined for it. But ten years in jail? That's rediculous! Too many people are going to jail today. Prostitutes, people associated with drugs, etc. Think about it.
All those people are in jail. How do they get fed? By the government! Where does the government get its money? YOU! Three square meals a day for 10 years for somebody who modded a console system. That's a lot of god damn money. These people shouldn't be taken away from society. Prison should be a place for people who shouldn't be allowed in society. Somebody who smokes weed - Are they harming society? Is a prostitute harming society? Is a person who mods and sells god damn video game consoles harming society?
I think not...
it's spelled ridiculous from the word ridicule from the french/latin for laughable.
No e in it.
Also some of those things you mention are actually outlawed solely on the basis that it harms society, not that I agree, but that's the supposed reasoning.
And they have work programs in many prisons where inmates work for an outrageously low wage and the rest pays for their incarceration, not that that covers it all and somehow undoes your point, just thought you might find it interesting to know.
modding for personal use, or for your friends, is one thing
but PROFITING off of it is another...its completely hypocritical in my opinion
this guy was definitely in the wrong, although he didnt deserve 10 years (or even prosecution, for that matter)
So now its illegal to alter hardware you own?
@b13s3ntra: Were you talking about me? Did I offend you in anyway?
I didn't even give an opinion on the topic. I just said that I've seen multiple people advertising modified systems and modification services on craigslist. I wasn't looking to buy anything from them, they just pop up everywhere. I think people should be allowed to do what they want to with their purchased systems...
here in Aus, you can get modded x360's and Wii here in some specialty stores..... so far as i can tell when you buy shit here it is your to do what ever you wish with it.
the USA tries to say it is the freest in the world has more regulations and restrictions than most of the OECD.
Ok, here's the funny thing about not protecting IP or encouraging the breaking of DRM in gaming specifically. People who work hard are less encouraged to do so or are not compensated fairly.
I'm not saying every modded system involves stealing content, but I definitely remember rampant copying for dreamcast and yeah it's awesome to have tons of games without paying. Here's a great example of how much it sucks to not have game content protected (just one, but no matter what side you argue some numbers or examples would be nice!):
http://www.slidetoplay.com/story/app-cracking-damages-sales-for-independent-developer
I wish they had regional stats on the % of video game console users who use their system for homebrew versus copies of games.
I wonder how these argument in favor of DRM would sound if they were about the firmware on a fancy pace-maker and the meddling saved a life.
Oh c'mon, there's obviously a difference there lol. Different industry, different product. You're not really talking about the potential of getting more goods without paying then.
If you created a non-opensource game and found someone decrypted whatever drm was
involved, then you see thousands of unregistered gamers hitting your
servers (see link in my comment above), would you still be as
favorable of drm breaking for profit and not just intellectual
exploration or whatever?
I get the homebrew argument, and bypassing sdk costs which can be
unreasonably high. But how many people who mod are copyig versus
creating something or backing up games?
That's USA for you...
This kid needs a serious defense fund.
DMCA cases and wide reaching EULAs are nothing more than the Betamax case all over again. The words "fair use" don't seem to exist in the modern lexicon, and that's pathetic.
Blast from thje past! That dude totally failed to mod my Xbox back in the day. his soldering skills were not up to par. he sent me to his mentor, both guys were cool. His mentor could not believe that "Crip" was coming along so fast. It was hilarious. I found "Crip" in the penny saver and met him at his moms trailer. i walked in i could swear he had just finished smoking a fatty. actually when he failed he offered to smoke me out, I declined being military. So he sent me away with my xbox in pieces to his mentor. it was effing hilarious. That guy had it all. it serously impressed me to see his stash in his moms trailer.
I modded the SEEM of my V3xx and later sold the phone to a friend.
Am I fucked?
Umm I owned a PSP since its 1st crimbo launch I was happy with it then years later (3 months ago) I decided I wanted change (no not obama) I installed M33 and love it so much I wont change even if they sue me.
I own the device, I may not own the software.
But I say as soon as that software gets into my hands and onto my PSP that I own then that copy of software therefore belongs to me.
I dont want to buy a game and find out I dont like it, I just download it then try it then go out and buy it.
If they make it so easy to do it I dont really blame people for doing it.
"Licenses are part of contract law. It is not legal to break contract conditions."
Actually, no. Contracts are entirely a civil matter and are not law in and of themselves. Suing someone for breach of contract should be fine if you can demonstrate that the breach harmed you in some way. But having the ability to put someone in prison for breach of contract is not right. No one should ever be denied their civil rights for breach of contract with another party.
Here Here! Well said.
K, I read autoblog eveyday, so WTF does ICE mean on this board?
well they could get him on tax evasion probably,nah that would be daft.
Someone might have addressed this already in the comments (I didn't have time to read them all), but why is customs involved? Was he modding to international customers or something? If not ICE shouldn't be wasting their time on this at all, it should be up to the FBI or local police agencies.
Lol at the E-Lawyers drawing conclusions to cars vs consoles.
Except for The People's Republik of Kalifornia and their CARB (California Air Resources Board), you do not need the governments approval to make modifications to a road going vehicle, with the exception of safety and emissions control equipment (and the presence of nitrous in some states). This includes modifying the factory computer software using a handheld programmer or mod-chip to exact more performance and change the way the vehicle operates in many ways.
In addition to being able to perform modifications, Thanks to the Magnuson Moss Act, dealerships are not able to void a warranty due to aftermarket parts being present unless they can prove the failure in which warranty work is required was due to, or contributed to in a significant way by the part(s) or incorrect modification of factory equipment. While dealers will often try to play this hardball denial card hoping consumers will just accept no for an answer, I have successfully taken a dealership to court and won using just such a law as the basis for my case. (They claimed a catback exhaust could have caused the cylinder heads to fail, which I assume most of you people don't understand much about cars, but the two have nothing to do with each other. They failed because the dealership sold me a car that was filled with diesel oil to quiet the damage they didn't want to disclose).
Unfortunately, the DMCA is new generation law, and was not written with the same jurisprudence and recognition of possible reinterpretation as other laws in the past have been. Basically, this law always assumed the government would be right in it's assessment and left few if any avenues in the law for a legal challenge based on future situations.
In the end, laws like this are written by republicrats. People whom act like they have an agenda based on moral belief for either side, but in fact, are really only there to keep us arguing amongst ourselves over whos a liberal and whos a conservative while they line their pockets with generous "perks" and donations. Everyone's integrity has a price, and while that may never change, I believe we should write our laws with the presumption future discoveries may be cause for rexamination/challenge in court, as many open source, home brew ect applications have given good reason to bypass DRM.
If an action causes no physical, emotional or financial harm, prosecuting someone for a crime they "might" commit ( vs procuring pirated software (which does cause financial harm) in the future is terrifying and goes against everything the judicial system I am working to contribute to (am in law school atm). Basically the only reason modding these consoles was illegal was the DMCA said so. The modification itself doesn't actually cause the company any financial harm. While some may see it as an obvious gateway to piracy, the fact remains that this law sets a dangerous future precedent. If he wasn't distributing illegal software, there was no financial damage, therefore according to common sense, no crime save the technical one. No one was harmed (financially in this case).
What other sections of the law will we change in the future to enable the government to arrest you for a crime you "might commit" for the "sake of protecting business assets" or the "public"?
If he was selling or somehow making a profit from pirated works of others, he deserves to pay financial restitution.. Prison shouldn't even be in the picture for a situation like this. This should have been taken up in civil court, the fact the industry groups (RIAA ect) could pressure the government into making DRM circumvention (an act that financially damages no one in and of itself) into a "crime", really makes me question the intelligence and integrity of our leaders.
Our generation, people like us, tech capable people, need to get involved in the law making process before it's too late. The generation before our parents supposedly couldn't see past their racial bias, so our parents generation fought for equal rights (.. and went a little too far in the other direction imho...), now it's time for our generation to start fighting for fair information rights, lest we let the previous, tech ignorant generation set us on a path not easily changed.
this is lame. Next they will be arresting owners of gun stores because they are selling guns to customers who could potentially do illegal things with the guns.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act
"Passed on October 12, 1998 by a unanimous vote in the U.S. Senate and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on October 28, 1998"
Introduced in the House of Representatives as H.R. 2281 by Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC) on July 29, 1997
COSPONSORS(9), ALPHABETICAL:
Rep Berman, Howard L. [CA-26] - 2/11/1998
Rep Bono Mack, Mary [CA-44] - 6/5/1998
Rep Bono, Sonny [CA-44] - 9/26/1997
Rep Conyers, John, Jr. [MI-14] - 7/29/1997
Rep Frank, Barney [MA-4] - 7/29/1997
Rep Hyde, Henry J. [IL-6] - 7/29/1997
Rep McCollum, Bill [FL-8] - 1/27/1998
Rep Paxon, Bill [NY-27] - 6/5/1998
Rep Pickering, Charles W. "Chip" [MS-3] - 6/22/1998
U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 105th Congress - 2nd Session:
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=105&session=2&vote=00137
I know all you guys and seldom ladies out there find this to be outrageous, but it's really detrimental to the corporations that their consoles cannot be utilized to make illegal copies or aid in any way, shape, or form.
First off, Modding your system is legal (in the U.S. as far as I know). It's equivalent to getting an ECU flash done (for you gear heads) on your car. Perfectly legal but kiss your warranty, customer support service, etc. good bye.
BUT-the same way you may use your modded car to go faster, speed and break the law...Is the same as a person with a modded console ripping software illegally. Not saying people will do it, but now you have the ability to. With that the Corps. that make the consoles face major revenue loss (why buy games when you burn your buddies); Possible liability (again with game revenue...this time taking the studios, and publishers revenue), and most feared of all-cease of production. Every major game studio, developer, etc. all started small...take away there MUCH needed sale numbers for the games they make and *poof*...no more publisher.
If I had to gamble, I'll take keeping video games going strong over saving a couple bucks.
10 years its obscene, so its better to kill some one because you will get less time in jail if you pled guilty and assume selfdefence
Whats is more valuable? a live right?
That shows what is wrong with this country.
"Les Misérables" any body remember that movie?
"Let this be a lesson to you", "there is always time to make an example", A criminal should have a normal sentence, not more
than he should deserve just to make an example
Sorry for the bad english
Oh thank god they are keeping us safe from such dangerous criminals. Just like the good people at the RIAA
really come on isnt there other things we can be cracking down on?
I've downloaded illegal games. I've downloaded illegal music. I, quite simply, don't have the money for it. I bought this cr*ptop i'm using now for 90 bucks.
Now, my simple question which no one has really addressed OR answered: since when is contract law enforced by the criminal justice system? THAT is the scary part. Not necessarily that he has to pay some sort of restitution. That, might be halfway acceptable. But since when do we punish violations of contract with the criminal justice system? Are we now truly only doing the bidding of the powerful like MPAA, RIAA, BSA, ESA? In your opinion, what is the line that we should not, can not cross?
We are Anonymous.
We are legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
This is just plain stupid. You bought the darn thing, so I think you can do with it whatever the heck you want.Nobody tells me how to slice my bread, and nobody can tell me how to run my system!
“Only one thing is impossible for God: To find any sense in any copyright law on the planet.”
-Mark Twain
Too bad Mark isn't alive to see this...
if you can't open it, you don't own it.
Sure you paid for it.... and then, you also read the legal agreement, and clicked the 'I AGREE' button.
....or maybe you just imagined naked ladies.
So a child rapist would get less of a punishment then some nerd modder? Our law system sucks ass..
this is about the dumbest thing I have ever heard. I have hacked nearly all the systems I own and this makes me concerned. How can he face10 YEARS in PRISON over THIS? That is insanity.
This is ridiculous. You can be charged with TEN YEARS IN PRISON for moding an electronic device that YOU BOUGHT and is YOUR PROPERTY? Really?
See how your freedoms are highjacked from you? It's always subtle things like megacorporations making it so you bought one of their products, but you don't REALLY own them. They're just on loan and goddamn you if you have the gaul to assume that an item you spent $400+ on you have the right to do whatever the FUCK you want to with them.
Fuck the government. They hate freedom no matter how much they prop it up.