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To: BurbankKarl
Lemme get this straight, I buy an X-Box, but Micro$uck still tells me what I can and can't do with it. It is MY personal property. If I want to modify it then I can.

If I buy a clock-radio that I want to make into a CD player by using parts from my portable CD player, I should be able to. GE can't come and sue me for modifying MY radio. If I want to add MP3 player capabilities to it, I can with off the shelf parts, the same rules apply to X-Box.

4 posted on 12/21/2005 9:59:15 AM PST by AntiKev (We pilots count our time in the air as if all other time is unimportant.)
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To: AntiKev

These "mod chips" aren't the issue. You're right, you have the legal right to do whatever you want with an XBox you pay for.

The law is broken because modded XBoxes have a hacked version of the Microsoft COPYRIGHTED BIOS on them. (I know this because *cough* a friend of mine has a modded XBox.)

This modified BIOS causes the XBox to recognize a far larger hard drive than the one that ships with the system, and permits copying RENTED games or borrowed games to this larger hard drive, effectively allowing the owner to keep a game on the system he never paid for.

This second issue is called theft and/or software piracy.

To summarize, you DO have the right to mod your XBox. As soon as you drop a hacked BIOS on it, you are in violation of federal law, and will be prosecuted if caught. You exacerbate the crime if you choose to use your illegal XBox to pirate software.


9 posted on 12/21/2005 10:03:46 AM PST by Heavyrunner (Socialize this.)
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To: AntiKev
At issue here, I believe, is that people were making a profit off of private mods. Hell, I upgrade components in my personal computers every month, but I don't have AMD/Asus/Corsair/Maxtor/NVIDIA/et al blowing my doors down. I agree that, to a certain extent, the DMCA goes way overboard to protect the income of already-wealthy companies, but in this case, these guys were ripping games to a disk drive and selling them for profit. This is piracy for sure.

Now if they were just selling the chips and instructions on how to modify the system boards, that's another story, as that, then, becomes a private property issue. If this were an issue, we'd have a society spiraling out of control in a litigious quagmire where everyone can sue anyone for anything at any time. We wouldn't want that now, would we... wait...

/sarcasmOff

11 posted on 12/21/2005 10:05:35 AM PST by rarestia ("One man with a gun can control 100 without one." - Lenin / Molwn Labe!)
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To: AntiKev

Nope your wrong so says the DMCRA. Reverse engineering, once a protected activity and considered to be integral to innovation, is now an illegal activity.

Just discussing how one might go about it is a crime.


21 posted on 12/21/2005 11:17:30 AM PST by Smogger
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To: AntiKev

the DMCA says its a crime.

and there are some new bills floating around backed by the MPAA and RIAA that essentially outlaws privately owned DVR technology.


23 posted on 12/21/2005 3:56:02 PM PST by oceanview
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