- May 13, 2003
- 13,704
- 7
- 81
Or they tough talk when they shouldn't, such as on a traffic stop. If you shut up and answer their questions, they are likely to not issue a citation, and just do a verbal warning.
Or they tough talk when they shouldn't, such as on a traffic stop. If you shut up and answer their questions, they are likely to not issue a citation, and just do a verbal warning.
How again did they violate his constitutional rights?
They had a search warrant for his grandmothers house where they confiscated stuff and then he volunteered the rest. Really, they would have waited at his girlfriends apartment for another search warrant to be issued if they had to.
Everyones saying the guy is a dumbass or the feds violated his rights. Niether is the case. The feds would have gottan the required paper work with in an hour or two and the would have ripped apart his girlfriends apartment. A lawyer wouldnt have been able to do jack sh!t in preventing the seizure of his items at either his grandmothers house or his girlfriends house.
DMCA is garbage, but I'm rather excited to think I could be one of those agents in a year or two. Applying to ICE in a few weeks.
He was doing it for profit -- tough for him.
Idiotic reasoning. It's tantamount to saying that the police shouldn't pursue any petty crimes because there are murders and rapes to be solved. There is manpower for both. As I understand it from a former agent, ICE deals with customs as much as if not more so than immigration.
He was doing it for profit -- tough for him.
Idiotic reasoning. It's tantamount to saying that the police shouldn't pursue any petty crimes because there are murders and rapes to be solved. There is manpower for both. As I understand it from a former agent, ICE deals with customs as much as if not more so than immigration.
It's still sad that it's illegal to produce/purchase items such as mod chips. They do have legitimate uses. A gun can be used for murder, however that doesn't mean that it will be used for that. I don't see how mod chip are any different.
Dont be too sure. I am waiting for people who actually know anything about anything to be politicians, and then I look at the president of the US, and people aspiring to be in politics, and it doesnt look good.
A lot of radical, worthwhile people will need to join politics to make any real difference. The good ones just get discouraged by the current state of affairs, and let the same ol tards run for it.
From what I understand, the problem was not the modding necessarily but the importation of the chips from China, which is why Immigrations & CUSTOMS Enforcement (ICE) was involved with the raid.
US Government just wants the modders to use American chips.
The pistol has legitimate, non-criminal uses (target practice, home defense -- it's also protected by the 2nd Amendment), but the mod chip has only one use -- playing pirated games. There's the key difference, unless I misunderstand the reason for modding.
DivideBYZero
Lifer
- May 18, 2001
- 24,117
- 2
- 0
Originally posted by: AndrewR
From what I understand, the problem was not the modding necessarily but the importation of the chips from China, which is why Immigrations & CUSTOMS Enforcement (ICE) was involved with the raid.
US Government just wants the modders to use American chips.
The pistol has legitimate, non-criminal uses (target practice, home defense -- it's also protected by the 2nd Amendment), but the mod chip has only one use -- playing pirated games. There's the key difference, unless I misunderstand the reason for modding.
It also allows region locked games to run regardless of system origin, but that is rarely the motivation...
Fingolfin269
Lifer
- Feb 28, 2003
- 17,948
- 32
- 91
Yeah, but the FACT is that they didn't have a warrant at the time, and he just broke down and bent over by even talking to them. Any lawyer worth their salt could have been there faster than a second warrant could be issued and keep him from saying things he shouldn't.
I've spent some time in the "modding scene", and I did always feel that running a business around modding would be a big grey area. You can argue up and down that modchips have legal uses, which they most certainly do, but that's not why most people get them. XBMC is an exception, as it is a fantastic piece of software.
That said, I completely disagree with the interpretation of the DMCA. Having a modchip doesn't mean you are committing piracy, just as having a DVD burner means you are copying DVD movies. The majority of the modchips aren't able to play backups unless modified in some way anyway. Plus, I can tell you the skills required to install a modchip are not trivial. If everyone who had a modchip installed in their machine never bought a retail game again, it wouldn't even have the slightest effect on game sales.
I haven't heard anything from the individuals that I know, but I'm certainly interested to see where this goes. My advice to anyone targeted: don't say a word!
That said, I completely disagree with the interpretation of the DMCA. Having a modchip doesn't mean you are committing piracy, just as having a DVD burner means you are copying DVD movies. The majority of the modchips aren't able to play backups unless modified in some way anyway. Plus, I can tell you the skills required to install a modchip are not trivial. If everyone who had a modchip installed in their machine never bought a retail game again, it wouldn't even have the slightest effect on game sales.
I haven't heard anything from the individuals that I know, but I'm certainly interested to see where this goes. My advice to anyone targeted: don't say a word!
agibby5
Senior member
- Jun 23, 2004
- 990
- 0
- 76
Surely, if it is possibly to make a functionally exact copy of an object, it should behave in exactly the same way. The only explaination is that the DVD reader/writer does not make an exact copy, but if that's the case, why don't they make DVD readers/writers which *do* make an exact copy?...
I'm against ANY retained ownership or rights. Once I buy something it's mine and I will absolutely do as I please with it. Obviously making copies and distributing them isn't right, but if I buy an object and keep it then it's MINE, and no one has any rights over what I do with it. Likewise all EULA's are abominations and should be utterly abolished.
If he was directly redistributing something then sure, he deserved to get nailed. But if he's merely providing info or non-pirated materials for others to use on their own belongings then he's above reproach.
If he was directly redistributing something then sure, he deserved to get nailed. But if he's merely providing info or non-pirated materials for others to use on their own belongings then he's above reproach.
That's not entirely true. I don't own a modded console, but among the uses for mod chips are the ability to install/use a bigger hard drive (for your own music, saves, etc), the ability to run game from said hard drive (I know plenty of people with legit games who did this for speed reasons), and the ability to play games from other regions (like Japanese games, which are surprisingly popular and not all of which make it across the pond).
I won't deny that most owners of modded consoles probably pirate as well, but that's what they should be arrested for, then.
Nocturnal
Lifer
- Jan 8, 2002
- 18,927
- 0
- 76
To me it's similar to how places are able to sell crack pipes, marijuana pipes, meth pipes, bongs, etc. They can ALL be used for illegal purposes and more often than not, are. Modchips can be both used for legal and illegal reasons. I have given up though as nothing can be done. Corporations are making money and that is the bottom line and the main point in almost everything.
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