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Man Chips Xbox, Goes to Prison
A first in the UK: A 22-year old Cambridge graduate was convicted for modifying a videogame console. He was sentenced to 140 hours of community service by the Caerphilly Magistrates Court in Wales, England.
His crime: selling modified Xbox consoles, which he fitted with a 200GB hard drive containing 80 pre-installed games for 380 pounds. The pirated titles are not known, so it could be either Xbox titles, or perhaps roms from another system, along with the corresponding emulator.
The man was tracked down via his website by an investigator. He was sentenced and fined 750 pounds, and his equipment was also seized: three computers, two printers, three Xbox consoles and 38 hard drives.
While this is the first conviction of its sort in the UK, the modification of game consoles has been outlawed since October of 2003, which is when the UK put the EU Copyright Directive in effect, which made it illegal to "circumvent copy protection systems."
Michael Rawlinson, of the Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association [Elspa] said, "It sends a clear message to anyone tempted to become involved in chipping consoles that this is a criminal offence and will be dealt with accordingly. The modification of consoles is an activity that Elspa's anti-piracy team is prioritising. It is encouraging to see the UK courts do the same."
Source: BBC
So, UKers... pirate at your own risk, but I don't advise it.
His crime: selling modified Xbox consoles, which he fitted with a 200GB hard drive containing 80 pre-installed games for 380 pounds. The pirated titles are not known, so it could be either Xbox titles, or perhaps roms from another system, along with the corresponding emulator.
The man was tracked down via his website by an investigator. He was sentenced and fined 750 pounds, and his equipment was also seized: three computers, two printers, three Xbox consoles and 38 hard drives.
While this is the first conviction of its sort in the UK, the modification of game consoles has been outlawed since October of 2003, which is when the UK put the EU Copyright Directive in effect, which made it illegal to "circumvent copy protection systems."
Michael Rawlinson, of the Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association [Elspa] said, "It sends a clear message to anyone tempted to become involved in chipping consoles that this is a criminal offence and will be dealt with accordingly. The modification of consoles is an activity that Elspa's anti-piracy team is prioritising. It is encouraging to see the UK courts do the same."
Source: BBC
So, UKers... pirate at your own risk, but I don't advise it.