Sony wins PlayStation mod-chip sales ban in Australia
Posted on 04/08/03 11:15 by Dennis                             
Sony wins PlayStation mod-chip sales ban in Australia

GristyMcFisty used our news submit to tell us that a few days ago Sony has won a legal battle in Australia making the sale of mod-chips (a chip which, simply said, makes it possible to play back-up and pirated game copies on the console) illegal:

For a short time, selling mod chips in Australia was legal - officially, following a court ruling last July. Sony had filed a suit against a Sydney mod-chip trader, Eddy Stevens.

Stevens is no hero: he was found guilty in a separate case of selling pirated software. But he won a famous victory, albeit on curious grounds. The judge ruled that Sony had failed to establish that mod chips constituted a "technological protection measure" that protected the copyright of its games software. If mod chips don't protect copyright then selling them does not violate copyright laws, he reasoned.

Not exactly a cast-iron defence, then, and successful largely because Sony messed up its presentation, reports at the time say. Sony duly won its appeal, now confirmed.

Following the latest ruling, it is still legal for Australians to own mod-chips, but it is illegal to sell mod-chips to Australians. Even though mod-chips can be used to run pirated games, it is difficult to drum up much sympathy for the console makers.

For mod-chips overcome built-in regional protection, an entirely consumer hostile measure. This means that games made for the US say won't work on consoles sold in Europe. The sole purpose of such restrictive distribution is to charge punters more money than would be otherwise possible in a grey market.

 

Source: The Register

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By cynicalbastard, Wed 6 Aug 2003 01:01
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Following the latest ruling, it is still legal for Australians to own mod-chips, but it is illegal to sell mod-chips to Australians ------------ Huh? So only existing users are legal?
By chsbiking, Wed 6 Aug 2003 09:23
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Like I said, they're going about this the wrong way. Copy protection maybe but if I sold a game console I would ship a development kit for the PC with it. Like a real one where you make real games. Not some basic interperter. I mean a real C++ compiler game dev kit. Then after the software I sold for the system got old, I would release the source so people could modify their old favorties and keep my system alive. basically what the PC is, but no huge operating system to deal with and some games, like fighting games, are better played on the console. Programmers would buy my system to program, consumers would buy it to play what the programmers program. I would find a way to let people back up their stuff. I wouldn't be so concered with locking technology down.
[edited by chsbiking on 06.08.2003 09:27]

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