Australian Court Rules Mod Chips Legal
Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 9:23 am
I found this over on the G4 website and I thought it was pretty intresting, so here it is:
Australian Court Rules Mod Chips Legal
written by Wade Steel on Friday, October 07, 2005
In a decision that may have far-reaching consequences beyond the Land Down Under, the High Court of Australia has ruled that certain anti-piracy measures found in Sony's PlayStation consoles are not protected under Australian law. The decision represents a blow to Sony which has been fighting a four year long battle to outlaw the use of the so-called "mod chips" in their gaming consoles.
The High Court's decision stated that PlayStation chips whose functions are circumvented by mod chips to allow unauthorized games to be played are not primarily copy protection device and therefore not protected under existing copyright statutes. This ruling reverses the decision of a lower court that found that such technology did provide a "general deterrent" against copyright violations.
In its decision, the High Court reasoned that since no full copy of the "unauthorized" game is actually created in the console's memory when the game is inserted into the console, then no actual copyright infringement happens.
In practical terms, this ruling allows for the legal mod chipping of consoles in Australia to play imported PlayStation games which typically cost less for the consumer than those available within the country itself. Many observers of the case stated that the High Court ruling represents the death knell for Sony's region encoding protection system which many Australian officials believed represented an artificial trade barrier that reduced competition and ultimately hurt the Australian consumer.
The ramifications of the case could spread outside Australia as firms and individuals involved in both mod chipping and game importation could potentially use this case as precedent for their own legal actions.
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The Halomods rules stay the same though, NO discussion of modchips.
Australian Court Rules Mod Chips Legal
written by Wade Steel on Friday, October 07, 2005
In a decision that may have far-reaching consequences beyond the Land Down Under, the High Court of Australia has ruled that certain anti-piracy measures found in Sony's PlayStation consoles are not protected under Australian law. The decision represents a blow to Sony which has been fighting a four year long battle to outlaw the use of the so-called "mod chips" in their gaming consoles.
The High Court's decision stated that PlayStation chips whose functions are circumvented by mod chips to allow unauthorized games to be played are not primarily copy protection device and therefore not protected under existing copyright statutes. This ruling reverses the decision of a lower court that found that such technology did provide a "general deterrent" against copyright violations.
In its decision, the High Court reasoned that since no full copy of the "unauthorized" game is actually created in the console's memory when the game is inserted into the console, then no actual copyright infringement happens.
In practical terms, this ruling allows for the legal mod chipping of consoles in Australia to play imported PlayStation games which typically cost less for the consumer than those available within the country itself. Many observers of the case stated that the High Court ruling represents the death knell for Sony's region encoding protection system which many Australian officials believed represented an artificial trade barrier that reduced competition and ultimately hurt the Australian consumer.
The ramifications of the case could spread outside Australia as firms and individuals involved in both mod chipping and game importation could potentially use this case as precedent for their own legal actions.
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The Halomods rules stay the same though, NO discussion of modchips.
