James Delahunty
21 Dec 2005 13:22
Three men have been charged with copyright infringement by U.S. Prosecutors for modifying Xbox consoles and selling them. ACME Game Store co-owners Jason Jones, 34, and Jonathan Bryant, 44, as well as Pei "Patrick" Cai, 32 have been charged with conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The complaint claims that Bryant and Jones sold Xbox consoles that Cai had modified with modchips and HDD's pre-loaded with pirated copies of games.
They could face up to five years in prison when they appear in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in late January. They charged from $225 to more than $500 for the modifications, depending on the amount of requested pre-loaded games. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement undercover agents paid $265 for a chipped Xbox that included 77 pirated games, according to the criminal complaint.
It is unfortunate that publicized modchip-related cases usually also include details about individuals selling pirated copies of games. Modchips themselves offer many other uses besides the ability to play game copies, such as allowing homebrew to be run and bypassing region restrictions on imported games. They can unlock much more potential in a console.
Source:
Yahoo
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