US cracks down on mod-chippers
'Storms' businesses, homes in 16 states
A US government agency has launched a big investigation into gaming console piracy. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has executed 32 federal warrants across the country, searching businesses and homes for clues surrounding the potential sale and distribution of illegal modification chips and disc copyright circumvention devices for games consoles.
Officials from 22 ICE offices "stormed" businesses, shops, and private residences across 16 states, including California, New York, Florida, and Texas. The ICE says its actions are the result of a year-long investigation.
ICE said it is targeting chips and devices that allow gamers to play pirated and/or counterfeit software on a range of consoles, including the PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, and Wii.
ICE has not yet shed any light on what it recovered from the searches. However, it said people at the 32 locations are allegedly involved in the direct importation, installation, sale, and distribution of such devices, manufactured in foreign countries and then smuggled into the US.
Counterfeiting and piracy costs the US up to $250bn each year and Microsoft has already released a statement proclaiming its full support of ICE's actions. The company stated that the work is an "important step in the continuing fight against piracy".
Last year, a video was posted online that apparently showed an Xbox 360's security system being hacked, allowing the console's DVD drive firmware to play DVD ±R discs - rather than rejecting them.
Earlier this year, an online report also claimed that Nintendo is tweaking the Wii's internal workings to prevent the use of console modification chips.
COMMENTS
ICE??
Let me get this right DHS - ICE can't secure the borders, ports but yet they have the time and manpower to go after modchips?? Someone better get their priorities straightened out!
Consumer Lobbying
Yeah, shouldn't Customs be investigating region-coding/fair trade violations and price-fixing instead of spending money on special police actions in support of corporations?
What we need to do is be more like the lobbyists; give wads of cash to the government to make them serve *our* needs.
Oh.. wait a minute... taxes... I think we *do* give wads of cash to our governments. Problem is, it's all being appropriated; leveraged by the lobbyists using comparative chump change.
How many trillions in losses have *we* suffered collectively?
Make the consoles more flexible...
... and people won't have to chip them. I have a chipped XBOX. I'm not a gamer (the only game I have is Crimson Skies and that's an original I bought from Ebay) but I do like it as a media centre under my TV where it contains my DivXed collection of Family Guy and Futurama (all converted from my original DVDs may I add).
Genuine is shit
You guyz, you guyz, lemme tell ya something: For the past 12 month I've played only 2-3 games that were not a "complete crap". Only one of those games "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." was so "bad", that it actually forced me to see, that people were working, creating and so on, and that this game worth showing gratitude by buying a legal copy. One more time - only 2-3 games per a year worth buying a legal copy, other 99.9% of the crap doesn't deserve it. So, if gamemaking (!sic) companies keep making shitty games, then why the fuck should we appriciate it, huh? Same goes for Windows Vista. When I was back in CHina, I bought a copy of Vista for 3 yuan (approx. 0,5 bucks). And you know what, it doesn't really matter if i bought this pirated version, or genuine for 600$, VISTA SUCKS IN EITHER WAY! Sucks hard! So, if microsoft released a *BUGGY* os, that's completely uncomfortable to work with, having all sorts of *compatability* issues, why the fuck do they demand 600$ for it?
THe bottom line is: Leave pirates alone for fucks sake, if it weren't for pirates, we would still have taperecorders as the latest invention back here in Kz.
How much does it cost the economy?
Do the people who come up with these figures think that people othewise don't spend the money back into the economy if they have it?
Generally though, people with the money to be able to easily afford the latest games buy the real thing. So does the missing money even exist in lost sales? I doubt it.
