Judge deems PS2 mod chips illegal in UK

[Lefteris_D]

The UK High Court has judged that the sale, advertisement, possession for commercial purposes and use of PlayStation 2 modification chips is illegal in this country.

Under the UK's implementation of the European Union Copyright Directive (EUCD), Europe's answer to the controversial US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, it is illegal to bypass copy protection mechanisms. On that basis Mr Justice Laddie ruled that David Ball had acted unlawfully by selling 1500 Messiah 2 mod chips which enabled such circumvention.
Cash`n`Carrion

The Messiah chips were offered as a way to allow UK PS2s not only to play legitimate US and Japanese games, but pirated titles and back-up copies made by users, which Sony forbids in the UK.

The UK enacted the EUCD in October 2003. The Directive has similarly been enacted in a number of other EU member states, allowing Sony to pursue mod chip sellers. Recently, it won just such a case in Belgium.

That said, there have been setbacks. Earlier this year, the Italian court ruled that mod chips are legal on the basis that it's up to the user, not Sony, how they use their PS2. It even went so far as to name mod chips as crucial tools to "avoid monopolistic positions".

And in Spain, it emerged that a loophole in Spanish copyright law legalises mod chips even though they run contrary to the spirit of the country's intellectual property legislation.

Full article from The Register.

[belmont]

In Italy the court said modchips are legal !!!

You can do everything in something you own.I personally have changed my PS2's modchip twice !!

[Mourgos]

Surprise,surprise.As if it is the first time that UK follows the footsteps of the US.We must remember these things the next time we complain about idiotic things in our country...at least we'll know we're not the only ones.

[onewecallgod]

mod chips arent illegal in the US....

[Mourgos]

How the hell did I have the impression that they where???

If that's so I must apologise for my ignorance.

[Lefteris_D]

The original purpose of the modchips were to allow us to play games from other regions(example: US games on European consoles) and also play backups in case the game disk we bought got damaged.

Some people however took advantage of the fact that modchips disable the protection mechanisms of the consoles to allow them to play backups and used it for piracy reasons.

The fact that modchips are mainly used to help piracy is the whole issue and everyone knows that.

Just tell me if you know any people that installed a modchip and did not buy pirated games or even made copies themselves... I know that the list is very short

[Mourgos]

We all also know that guns are made for killing but they don't have such a problem to give gun licences.
Anyway you own your console and you have the right to do whatever you want with it and installing a mod chip doesn't force you to break any copyright laws.You have the right to be able to make your machine able to play pirated playstation games,cause the fact alone doesn't break any copyright made by any company does.Only games are copyrighted.
Next thing they must do according to that logic is to make cars illegal because they can be used in taking you to buy pirated CD's ...

[onewecallgod]

its just like cd burners, not banned, but the vast majority are used for illegal purposes

[Corey4666]

dude i saw that topic somewhere before
do u think eventually modchips will be illegal period
and like in every state?

[Zach]

Originally posted by Mourgos@Jul 23 2004, 10:54 AM
We all also know that guns are made for killing but they don't have such a problem to give gun licences.
Anyway you own your console and you have the right to do whatever you want with it and installing a mod chip doesn't force you to break any copyright laws.You have the right to be able to make your machine able to play pirated playstation games,cause the fact alone doesn't break any copyright made by any company does.Only games are copyrighted.
Next thing they must do according to that logic is to make cars illegal because they can be used in taking you to buy pirated CD's ...

What the FUCK are you smoking dude ?

The majority of people out there using burners are making backups of data on their PC like spreadsheets, word files, pictures, etc.

You could no more make burners illegal because people use them to pirate, than you could make a car illegal cause someone used one to go buy pirated material. Thats just fucking retarded to even try to argue.

When you buy software you buy a liscense that grants you the right to install a copy of that software onto the PC. You technically do not own it.

Just like you buy the right to view porn online, you don't own anything but you are granted access to the materials.

Modifying your hardware and the right to do so is a situation of circumstance. If you deliberately modify your hardware for the specific reason of playing illegal copies, then in the eyes of the law your hardware has most likely become illegal.

Just like when some kid walks into a store and buys some white boys or blunts (which are perfectly legal by themselves) , and then goes and rolls a joint, it becomes part of the illegal act and ALL of it could be confiscated during an arrest.

Lets not beat around the bush here. Every person who bitches about these types of laws are just getting pissed cause they can't get shit for freee anymore and play their downloaded games. Well tough shit. Stop hiding behind stupid consumer laws that allow the backup of certain media that are prone to damage, you are only hurting the people who legitimately backup stuff.

Also. only games are copyrighted ? You need to get out more.

By the way sherlock, there are a lot of places in the U.S where you need a liscense to carry a firearm. I don't even understand what the point of brining up guns is.