Australian Court Rules Mod Chips Legal

BEEF!!! · Post by **BEEF!!!** » 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.

jks · Post by **jks** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 4:58 pm

Cool.

Aquafina · Post by **Aquafina** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 5:02 pm

They must be on drugs, this isnt fair, USA doesnt get them. =/

JK-47 · Post by **JK-47** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 5:45 pm

yes we do

Darkstorm995 · Post by **Darkstorm995** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 9:29 pm

he means its not actually legal to mod consoles here

Arbiter Elite · Post by **Arbiter Elite** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 10:18 pm

tat sucks...

Edwin · Post by **Edwin** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 8:36 am

well, as long as it isn't used in a manner that would allow copying of games or somethings, the X-box is our property after we purchase it, i see no reason for it to be illegal to mod the x-box for FTP tranfers.

The Pro · Post by **The Pro** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:31 am

Edwin wrote:well, as long as it isn't used in a manner that would allow copying of games or somethings, the X-box is our property after we purchase it, i see no reason for it to be illegal to mod the x-box for FTP tranfers.

Thats true and its not like were hurting anybody or takeing away someones bisness its just for our enjoyment

Aquafina · Post by **Aquafina** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 11:23 am

Anyway, they should want us to mod the xbox.
Modded Xbox = No Warranty = No wasting of xboxs

Darkstorm995 · Post by **Darkstorm995** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 11:53 am

yeah also nobody buying any more games since they could just download them. Im sure the warranties will make up for the lack of games being sold lol

JK-47 · Post by **JK-47** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 12:32 pm

ive never downloaded a game, its really not a very smart thing to do, you dont know who might be watching your computer....

has anyone ever thought that police put half of the programs on those download things just to catch people?

plus, i like making people 45 dollars richer lolianswbitif.

Edwin · Post by **Edwin** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 3:40 pm

i only have one downloaded game, and i downloaded it because it is not being sold ANYWHERE anymore, i spent weeks looking for it (target, wal mart, best buy, compUSA, everywhere) my logic is, they aren't making money on the game because they aren't selling it anymore, so they can't be hurt by it.

Darkstorm995 · Post by **Darkstorm995** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 6:56 pm

if the cops come ill burn my comp

Edwin · Post by **Edwin** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 8:01 pm

hard drive is not flammable

Arbiter Elite · Post by **Arbiter Elite** » Wed Oct 19, 2005 8:02 pm

JK-47 · Post by **JK-47** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 6:08 am

thats cool i didnt know that, so if my house caught on fire i can get my files back

Darkstorm995 · Post by **Darkstorm995** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 6:52 am

anything is flammable with the right amount of gas if not ill just brake it into pieces put it in a bag feed it to animals then run

Aquafina · Post by **Aquafina** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 10:47 am

Hard drives do not go on fire.
Its made out of titanium or something. Unless it is caught in a Delta classed fire.
Delta Fire - Metal that burns.

Arbiter Elite · Post by **Arbiter Elite** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 10:52 am

ahh wat if u opened the hardrive...

Aquafina · Post by **Aquafina** » Thu Oct 20, 2005 12:25 pm

It still wont go on fire, and congratulations for spamming your way to the elite rank.