The DMCA strikes again

[Hatta]

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/tech/Cal-Sta ... 86872.html

Now that is just fucked up beyond all description. Pure thuggery on the part of our government. And I love how he tries to justify it with "health and safety" concerns. Land of the free they say....

[dsheinem]

Not enough facts are in for me to judge fully, but I think the govt. is generally justified in going after counterfitters/people who make a living from modding systems and selling pirated games. It's one thing if you mod your own system to play backups, homebrew, etc. That should be protected. And if you pirate games yourself you are of course taking a small risk (especially if you distribute them digitally) - but it sounds like this is a bigger operation that was run FOR PROFIT.

If you are running a business selling pirated (currently available) games and modding/selling new systems, then you've crossed the line and are stealing from the industry in a way which I think should be prosecuted. They say that they "seized more than a dozen Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony video game consoles." This sounds like it might be more than just modding for personal use.

If he's been busted for modding PS1s and gamecubes, though, then this is absolutely ridiculous. And yes, the whole "health and safety" thing is bullshit.

[Hatta]

I don't see anything suggesting he sold pirated games. Even if he did, 10 years in jail would be WAY out of line with what's appropriate. Armed robbers get off lighter.

[MrPopo]

Specifically, the college student is accused of modifying for personal financial gain technology affecting control or access to a copyrighted work, according to an ICE statement.

I don't see anything wrong with this kid getting busted. Hacking current gen consoles for profit is asking for trouble.

What really bugs me, though, is that the article keeps mentioning the phrase "playing with games". This doesn't come near the games. He's screwing around with consoles.

[Hatta]

I don't see anything wrong with this kid getting busted.

You don't see anything wrong with 10 years in prison for this? It's no wonder the US imprisons a greater proportion of it's people than any other country in the world (including China!), we've lost all sense of proportionality. The punishment should fit the crime, in this case a reasonable fine is all that's appropriate.

[dsheinem]

I don't see anything wrong with this kid getting busted.

You don't see anything wrong with 10 years in prison for this? It's no wonder the US imprisons a greater proportion of it's people than any other country in the world (including China!), we've lost all sense of proportionality. The punishment should fit the crime, in this case a reasonable fine is all that's appropriate.

10 years is ridiculous and no this is not worse than armed robbery. However, armed robbery usually carries a stiffer maximum than 10 years but criminals get lighter sentences. I'll be surprised if he actually gets 10 years for this, unless he has really incompetent lawyers.

[FreshChurros]

“Piracy, counterfeiting and other intellectual property rights violations not only cost U.S. businesses jobs and billions of dollars a year in lost revenue, they can also pose significant health and safety risks to consumers,” he said.

This is the part that gets me. Even if he pirated every game for one of those systems, I can't see those damages exceeding $40,000 or $50,000. And the health and safety risks part is such bullshit.

[Hatta]

Even if he does get less, it's still an outrage. We should have the freedom to tinker with our property. The right to do what we want with our own property is fundamental. If we can morally do a modification ourself, we should be able to pay someone to do it for us. I do not think this is an ethical grey area at all, and clearly it should not be criminal..

As far as I see it, jailing someone for possibly interfering with the games industry is on the same moral level as breaking someones legs for competing with your waste disposal business. This is organized crime.

[Octopod]

I don't see anything wrong with this kid getting busted.

You don't see anything wrong with 10 years in prison for this? It's no wonder the US imprisons a greater proportion of it's people than any other country in the world (including China!), we've lost all sense of proportionality. The punishment should fit the crime, in this case a reasonable fine is all that's appropriate.

A-fuckin'-men dude.

[Jrecee]

Articles like this tend to leave out the details, either to make a bigger impact or just because of lack of understanding on the journalists part. A few days ago the front page of Yahoo had a link to an article about a guy who was being fined a huge amount for "downloading songs". It mentioned the fact that the case was over 30 songs he downloaded. Of course if you read the fine print you find that he was sharing and downloading thousands of songs, the music industry just targeted specific ones for the case.

In this guys case it sounds like he was running a serious business of modifying consoles and probably had a deeper connection to piracy than the article makes it sound.

And 10 years it the maximum penalty he could get. He hasn't even been to court yet.