Man busted by FEDs for modified Wii

[RaiderJ]

Originally posted by: torpid
What are the legal purposes for a Wii mod? Just imports as far as I know.

Gamecube homebrew software.

 

[magomago]

Originally posted by: AndrewR

Originally posted by: wetcat007

Originally posted by: ultimatebob

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
This guy was busted as a modder-for-profit not for playing with his own wii.

It might be legal for you to mod your own console, regardless of EULA, but the chipmaker and dealers may be violating copyrights, patents and the DMCA.

Yeah, he's definitely screwed. He's basically building and selling equipment designed to circumvent copy protection for a profit, which makes him enemy #1 for Nintendo and Microsoft.

I'll bet the police raid the folks building hacked cable and satellite boxes to get free service all the time as well, but they don't seem to get the same press that the game box modders do.

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.

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.

OH HELLLL no. The Mod Chip can also be used to do a LOT of homebrew developing! I used to be involved with mod scenes - especially the Dreamcast ~ and I spent almost all of my time with homebrew and dev kits and playing people's creations while messing with it on my own. The Mod Chip itself does ALLOW pirate games to be played - but much like Bitorrent - its only use ISN'T just piracy; it depends what a user uses it for.
And I agree that more often than not - mod chips are purchased for a user who will most likely pirate - but that is NOT the only reason to get a mod chip

 

[essasin]

Originally posted by: magomago

Originally posted by: AndrewR

Originally posted by: wetcat007

Originally posted by: ultimatebob

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
This guy was busted as a modder-for-profit not for playing with his own wii.

It might be legal for you to mod your own console, regardless of EULA, but the chipmaker and dealers may be violating copyrights, patents and the DMCA.

Yeah, he's definitely screwed. He's basically building and selling equipment designed to circumvent copy protection for a profit, which makes him enemy #1 for Nintendo and Microsoft.

I'll bet the police raid the folks building hacked cable and satellite boxes to get free service all the time as well, but they don't seem to get the same press that the game box modders do.

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.

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.

OH HELLLL no. The Mod Chip can also be used to do a LOT of homebrew developing! I used to be involved with mod scenes - especially the Dreamcast ~ and I spent almost all of my time with homebrew and dev kits and playing people's creations while messing with it on my own. The Mod Chip itself does ALLOW pirate games to be played - but much like Bitorrent - its only use ISN'T just piracy; it depends what a user uses it for.
And I agree that more often than not - mod chips are purchased for a user who will most likely pirate - but that is NOT the only reason to get a mod chip

The modchips for the wii come ready to play backups but I believe that makes it illegal. However, the xbox modchips did absolutely nothing except void your warranty which is why I think it was legal to do so, until you flash it which was the illegal part. At least that is what I read.

 

[RaiderJ]

The Wiikey doesn't allow you to play backups until it's had the update disc run. Most modchips are like this.