Playstation/X-Box modding now Legal
David L. Jones
Australian High Court rules in favour of modders
By Staff Writers, CRN 6 October 2005 11:50 AEST Hardware
The High Court of Australia has ruled that Australian consumers and
overseas travellers can buy cheaper computer games and hardware
offshore and modify them locally.
Gadens Lawyers, who represented appellant Eddy Stevens in the High
Court suit, released a statement today following the ruling, calling
the win a "landmark copyright case" championing the rights of
consumers.
Stevens ran a business that modified and repaired PlayStation games
console equipment. Mod chips let gamers ignore vendors' regional coding
systems to buy cheaper games designed for markets outside of Australia.
Stevens had been fighting PlayStation maker Sony in the High Court of
Australia for four years to establish the right of consumers and
businesses such as his to do so, Gadens said.
"All six judges of the High Court held that widely used 'mod-chips'
were legal, with far reaching implications for the manufacturers of
computer games -- Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft - and consumers," the
law firm said.
The High Court also ruled that playing a game on a consumer machine
does not constitute making an illegal copy of that game, Gadens said.
Michaell Bradley, managing partner at Gadens and counsel for Stevens,
said the win was excellent news for Australian consumers.
"The judiciary and the consumer watchdog categorically upheld the
rights of the little guy against the might of a multinational," Bradley
said.
Gadens added in its statement that the Australian Competition and
Consumer Commission (ACCC) had stepped in as a friend of the court at
Federal Court level to argue that regional coding was detrimental to
consumer choice.
Nathan Mattock, senior associate for Gadens and part of Stevens' legal
team on the High Court case, said the legal issues involved in the case
had been complex.
"The court has had to interpret copyright law within the ever-changing
technical environment in which we live. Fortunately for the consumer,
the court has prevented a multinational corporation from further
eroding consumer rights," Mattock said.
Gadens litigation team had handled several other landmark copyright and
technology cases, including a Federal Court case for the Australian
Video Retailers Association (AVRA) against Warner Home Video.
"Also a test case, it was comparable to Stevens versus Sony because it
dealt with the issue of copying and explored the nature of the
technology used for playing DVDs. Gadens Lawyers' client was
successful against Warner," the law firm said.
The Real Andy
wrote:
<snip>
HAving recently been involved in a landmark court case I beleive this
is a fucking rort. I now feel sympathetic to the manufacturer. I have
no faith in the legal system.
John
Hi
could you please explain why you feel sympathy
for the manufacturers?
hom...@hotmail.co.uk
September 2005.
http://www.elektor-electronics.co.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=27&year=2005&month=9&art=52893&PN=On
Richard
The Real Andy
I feel sympathy to the game developers. Sony is doing the right thing
by them, so should the legal system.
John
> On Fri, 07 Oct 2005 00:47:29 +0930, John
> <sittingb...@internode.on.net> wrote:
>
> >The Real Andy wrote:
> >
> >> On 5 Oct 2005 20:19:22 -0700, "David L. Jones" <alt...@gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >> <snip>
> >> HAving recently been involved in a landmark court case I beleive this
> >> is a fucking rort. I now feel sympathetic to the manufacturer. I have
> >> no faith in the legal system.
> >
> >
> >
> >Hi
> >
> >could you please explain why you feel sympathy
> >for the manufacturers?
>
> I feel sympathy to the game developers. Sony is doing the right thing
> by them, so should the legal system.
Hang on interesting comment there.....
Sony is doing the right thing by game developers so what's
that got to do with the legal system not doing the right thing?
Where did they drop the ball?
Terry Collins
> On Fri, 07 Oct 2005 00:47:29 +0930, John
> <sittingb...@internode.on.net> wrote:
>>could you please explain why you feel sympathy
>>for the manufacturers?
>
>
> I feel sympathy to the game developers. Sony is doing the right thing
> by them, so should the legal system.
Err, my 2c of law "Says you own the box, why should it be illegal for
you to mod it?
>
The Real Andy
Well your 2cents isn't worth shit. If I come over to your house and
steal all your stuff would you be happy? No, you would probably call
the police and have me charged with theft. If you dont charge me,
thats your choice, but should it be legal to rob someone even if you
dont charge me?
Nicholas Sherlock
> On Sun, 09 Oct 2005 09:46:05 +1000, Terry Collins
> <newsones...@woa.com.au> wrote:
>>The Real Andy wrote:
>>Err, my 2c of law "Says you own the box, why should it be illegal for
>>you to mod it?
>
> Well your 2cents isn't worth shit. If I come over to your house and
> steal all your stuff would you be happy?
If you buy a house, and you find it is illegal to change the locks on
your front door, would you be happy?
Cheers,
Nicholas Sherlock
jj
I strongly people have every right to buy any GENUINE game/software
etc they like from any country they want, and use it freely here
without restriction. Making you buy a unit or CD;s from one
particular country / distributor at whatever excessive price they set
is 100% wrong, and thankfully the court (for once) has seen this and
is ruling in favour of consumers rights and fair competition.
If a legit game is bought overseas, then the manufacturer and
developer still have got their fair share of the royalties from the
sale.
I would feel more sorry for this poor bugger who has spent 4 years of
his life fighting this in court, lost 4 years of his working life and
earnings, probably has had to sell everything he owned to pay the
lawyers and costs, and stand against a ruthless, well funded
multi-national, knowing he had a good chance of losing, and then
copping costs as well. He has probably been scarred for life by the
stress of this, and the damage to his family as well must be
considered too. Someone like this to me is a hero, and someone we
should admire for having the guts to defend himself like this, and
stand up for what he believed in against all odds. With the possible
exception of PA, (for fighting and winning over his case with the dud
speakers) I doubt many on this group (or most of the lazy gutless
weak crap that inhabits this once-great nation) would measure up.
Regional coding of any kind is a ridiculous system, always has been
and shouldn't be used. Its just done for greed, and to rip off the
consumer, and has nothing to do with copyright.
Ed :-}
ive had a mod chip for years
Terry Collins
> On Sun, 09 Oct 2005 09:46:05 +1000, Terry Collins
> <newsones...@woa.com.au> wrote:
>
>
>>The Real Andy wrote:
>>
>>>On Fri, 07 Oct 2005 00:47:29 +0930, John
>>><sittingb...@internode.on.net> wrote:
>>
>>>>could you please explain why you feel sympathy
>>>>for the manufacturers?
>>>
>>>
>>>I feel sympathy to the game developers. Sony is doing the right thing
>>>by them, so should the legal system.
>>
>>Err, my 2c of law "Says you own the box, why should it be illegal for
>>you to mod it?
>>
>
> Well your 2cents isn't worth shit. If I come over to your house and
> steal all your stuff would you be happy? No, you would probably call
> the police and have me charged with theft. If you dont charge me,
> thats your choice, but should it be legal to rob someone even if you
> dont charge me?
Yes, if you steal stuff, you should be charged and if it s your third
time, then you should kloose your right arm, left arm on fifth time, etc.
But that isn't what I said. If I buy an Xnox/playstation, etc, why
shouldn't I be able to mod it. I can do so with my motor vehicles,
bicycle, stereo, etc.
John
> On Sun, 09 Oct 2005 09:46:05 +1000, Terry Collins
> <newsones...@woa.com.au> wrote:
>
> >The Real Andy wrote:
> >> On Fri, 07 Oct 2005 00:47:29 +0930, John
> >> <sittingb...@internode.on.net> wrote:
> >
> >>>could you please explain why you feel sympathy
> >>>for the manufacturers?
> >>
> >>
> >> I feel sympathy to the game developers. Sony is doing the right thing
> >> by them, so should the legal system.
> >
> >Err, my 2c of law "Says you own the box, why should it be illegal for
> >you to mod it?
> >>
>
> Well your 2cents isn't worth shit. If I come over to your house and
> steal all your stuff would you be happy? No, you would probably call
> the police and have me charged with theft. If you dont charge me,
> thats your choice, but should it be legal to rob someone even if you
> dont charge me?
But do you feel the same way about people who buy a game online
from say amazon and then play it on their modified PS2?
I mean they have purchased a legal copy of the game the producers
have got their money. The only difference is that they purchased
outside the local "region"
I'd be very interested in your answer
The Real Andy
<n_she...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>The Real Andy wrote:
>> On Sun, 09 Oct 2005 09:46:05 +1000, Terry Collins
>> <newsones...@woa.com.au> wrote:
>>>The Real Andy wrote:
>>>Err, my 2c of law "Says you own the box, why should it be illegal for
>>>you to mod it?
>>
>> Well your 2cents isn't worth shit. If I come over to your house and
>> steal all your stuff would you be happy?
>
>If you buy a house, and you find it is illegal to change the locks on
>your front door, would you be happy?
>
>Cheers,
>Nicholas Sherlock
My point is, that Sony puts these protections in place to prevent
software getting stolen. In the case of the game manufacturers, they
have no way of protecting there development/income. IT is imposible
for the software developer in this situation to protect there
investments. If you choose to modify the device, thats your choice. If
you choose to make illegal copies of software, that too is your
choice. If the court makes it legal to pirate software, through any
method, that in itself is a crime and _that_ is effectively what they
are doing.
Lets be honest here, how many people do you think are getting mod
chips fitted to enable the use of games from other regions?
If there is no games availalbe because all the game dev shops have
gone broke from failing to get returns on software, what is the use of
a modchip then?
Terry Given
I'm gonna mod-chip my PS2, because I have a couple of multizone DVDs
that wont play on it.
>
> If there is no games availalbe because all the game dev shops have
> gone broke from failing to get returns on software, what is the use of
> a modchip then?
nonsense. the games industry is fantastically lucrative, and modchips
are commonplace.
Cheers
Terry
Franc Zabkar
<will_get_back_to_you_on_This@> put finger to keyboard and composed:
>Lets be honest here, how many people do you think are getting mod
>chips fitted to enable the use of games from other regions?
If the manufacturers weren't engaging in restrictive trade practices
(hey, that's against the law isn't it?), then mod chippers would have
no defence. Even then I'd still want to be able to backup a legitimate
purchase so that I wouldn't have to worry about it being accidentally
damaged. DVD rot is another reason I'd want to be able to backup my
movie or game collection. After all, I purchase DVDs in the
expectation that they will form part of an enduring library.
-- Franc Zabkar
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.
Tom
My 2c worth related to copy protection/region coding
Bought a CD of artist I like and think she deserves royalties, next
thing I want to rip it for my MP3 player (portable CD players don't work
very well when jogging) but it's protected. Took me a while to find a
way and eventually I ripped the CD but will never buy one again - it's
so much easier and quicker just to download it...
Last trip to Europe I bought 36 original, legal DVDs, all of them never
been released here. I don't understand why I have to use illegal means
to watch them here on my DVD player. My friends overseas have to do the
same to play australian DVDs I send them. For me its just a form of
censorship and pisses me off.
And what about backup? Would Sony or MS replace my scratched CD or game
for free?
Lets be honest here, haven't we heard music and movie industry crying
and screaming when compact cassette came out, video tape etc. They spend
their money and energy coming up with new copy protection and ripoff
(sorry, region) coding and short time later someone breaks it. They
complain every time about losses but the fact is they are getting richer
and more powerful. On the other hand I don't see artists (or game
developers for that matter) getting rich at the same rate as Sony and
other corporations involved in media.
Tom
John
Another post for framing........
You stole my thoughts
Bazil
>
> My 2c worth related to copy protection/region coding
>
> Bought a CD of artist I like and think she deserves royalties, next
> thing I want to rip it for my MP3 player (portable CD players don't work
> very well when jogging) but it's protected. Took me a while to find a
> way and eventually I ripped the CD but will never buy one again - it's
> so much easier and quicker just to download it...
>
> Last trip to Europe I bought 36 original, legal DVDs, all of them never
> been released here. I don't understand why I have to use illegal means
> to watch them here on my DVD player. My friends overseas have to do the
> same to play australian DVDs I send them. For me its just a form of
> censorship and pisses me off.
>
> And what about backup? Would Sony or MS replace my scratched CD or game
> for free?
>
> Lets be honest here, haven't we heard music and movie industry crying
> and screaming when compact cassette came out, video tape etc. They spend
> their money and energy coming up with new copy protection and ripoff
> (sorry, region) coding and short time later someone breaks it. They
> complain every time about losses but the fact is they are getting richer
> and more powerful. On the other hand I don't see artists (or game
> developers for that matter) getting rich at the same rate as Sony and
> other corporations involved in media.
>
> Tom
Last I read is that Blu Ray and HD DVD will possibly merge their specs
and that Toshiba (HD) are pushing to drop region encoding. I think they
all realise that region encoding has given them a poor image world wide
and I wont be surprised if it gets dropped completely.
Aren't most players etc sold here set to play all region discs?
If not, let this become a list of those that do and those that don't...
Baz
Tom
> Aren't most players etc sold here set to play all region discs?
Don't know, first one I bought a few years ago was a cheapie made in
China and I've spent a week looking for region free code on the net - it
turned out it had no region protection built-in (it was the last model
from that manufacturer without region coding). A few months ago I bought
LG that does Divx, set for region 4 but it was easy to change.
I think most if not all can be changed to region 0, it's only a matter
of finding access to service menu. Don't know how hard manufacturers
protect DVD drives.
Tom
Lord-Data
"John" <sittingb...@internode.on.net> wrote in message
news:434C811B...@internode.on.net...
No more than they would replace your tapes or floppy discs if they were
damaged .. Its not theyr job to look after your property ..
Tom
>>>And what about backup? Would Sony or MS replace my scratched CD or game
>>>for free?
>
>
> No more than they would replace your tapes or floppy discs if they were
> damaged .. Its not theyr job to look after your property ..
I can look after my property - I can make backups but they prevent them
from working... so they should exchange broken media.
Tom
dmm
>Lets be honest here, haven't we heard music and movie industry crying
>and screaming when compact cassette came out, video tape etc. They spend
Yep, well I remember that.
>their money and energy coming up with new copy protection and ripoff
>(sorry, region) coding and short time later someone breaks it. They
I can't for the life of me remember how the manufacturers, or the RIAA,
or Hollywood justified that one.
>complain every time about losses but the fact is they are getting richer
>and more powerful. On the other hand I don't see artists (or game
Yep.
>developers for that matter) getting rich at the same rate as Sony and
>other corporations involved in media.
>
>Tom
Actually computer game development has become VERY big business in the past 10 years.
Anyone who had shares in the major startups would be very weatlthy by now.
The tools for game development also have been utilised in the movies (CGI), and
computer games have made the crossover to the movies as well, re Laura
Croft, Doom (soon to be released), etc.