Federal Modchip raid

[MalaCloudy Black]

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: August 2, 2007

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 (AP) — Federal customs agents raided more than 30 businesses and homes in 16 states Wednesday, looking for devices that allow pirated video games to play on Wiis, PlayStation 2s and Xboxes.

Allegations about the sale and distribution of illegal modification chips and copyright circumvention devices for the popular consoles and others included 32 search warrants in 16 states, said the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The agency declined to release the names of those raided but contended they were responsible for importing, installing, selling and distributing foreign-made devices smuggled into the United States.

Illegal chips and other devices used on gaming consoles violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Sales of counterfeit or illegally obtained games costs the industry about $3 billion a year globally, not including Internet piracy, the Entertainment Software Association, a trade group, estimates.

Piracy losses for Nintendo and its game developers and publishers may have totaled $762 million last year alone, said Jodi Daugherty, senior director of antipiracy at Nintendo America, based in Redmond, Wash.

Ms. Daugherty’s five-person team coordinates global antipiracy efforts for Nintendo’s Japanese parent company. Since April, the company has helped law enforcement agencies worldwide seize 61,000 counterfeit Wii modification chips, she said.

Wednesday’s federal raids came after a yearlong investigation, coordinated with the United States attorney’s office for the Northern District of Ohio and the Justice Department’s Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section.

The raids were conducted in California, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/02/business...amp;oref=slogin

.. How utterly bizarre.

[Godfatha]

I had always assumed that these chips were in fact legal due to the fact that it allow one to play games from outside of one's region and legal backups of your own games.

[ACCBiggz]

Sales of counterfeit or illegally obtained games costs the industry about $3 billion a year globally, not including Internet piracy, the Entertainment Software Association, a trade group, estimates.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Raided member tells story.

[Guest clintcasey]

Ms. Daugherty’s five-person team coordinates global antipiracy efforts for Nintendo’s Japanese parent company.

Wow, so 5 whole people are the entirety of Nintendo's GLOBAL antipiracy efforts. Boy, Nintendo must really be getting serious.

[Quom]

No five people co-ordinate, they could have one person in five different countries all running operations to stamp out piracy, it certainly doesn't mean there are only five people working in the entire area. If anything it seems a bit top heavy IMO unless the people are like I suggested scattered globally.

[Herr Matzat]

I had always assumed that these chips were in fact legal due to the fact that it allow one to play games from outside of one's region and legal backups of your own games.

[Fanku Kaibutsu]

You see, America is different, you cannot be a nerdy electrician that rewires stuff at home and laughs like a madman while doing it. But you can have a gun, dos not matter you could kill someone with it.

[Gabriel]

You see, America is different, you cannot be a nerdy electrician that rewires stuff at home and laughs like a madman while doing it. But you can have a gun, dos not matter you could kill someone with it.

Well, you see, there's a big difference between a modded console and a gun- Guns don't harm the earnings of large corporations. We can't be having that, now. It's down-right un-american.

[Herr Matzat]

You see, America is different, you cannot be a nerdy electrician that rewires stuff at home and laughs like a madman while doing it. But you can have a gun, dos not matter you could kill someone with it.

Well, you see, there's a big difference between a modded console and a gun- Guns don't harm the earnings of large corporations. We can't be having that, now. It's down-right un-american.

[Krendall]

I can't really complain about them doing this since they are just enforcing law, but how is this part of the ICE's jurisdiction?

[Captain Eo]

I can't really complain about them doing this since they are just enforcing law, but how is this part of the ICE's jurisdiction?

[apsham]

Modding your system doesn't just mean you can play from outside your region though, it means you can also play games burned.

[Captain Eo]

I've never played an imported game but didn't it used to be as simple as leaving the disk try open on older systems?

Like psx and dreamcast?

[MalaCloudy Black]

I don't think so.

[Fanku Kaibutsu]

Don't know about Dreamcast, but with the PS1, yeah, it leaving the disk tray open was a large part of playing foreign and burned games without a modchip. You'd put a 'boot disk' in, and hold down the button that makes the console think the tray is closed. Then once the 'Sony' screen started up, you'd swap the boot disk for whatever other illicit game you wanted to play.

[Robsturgh]

Ahhh yes, I remember that being the only way you could play GTA London. If I'm right. Which I'm probably not. Im going to sleep.

[Captain Eo]

Don't know about Dreamcast, but with the PS1, yeah, it leaving the disk tray open was a large part of playing foreign and burned games without a modchip. You'd put a 'boot disk' in, and hold down the button that makes the console think the tray is closed. Then once the 'Sony' screen started up, you'd swap the boot disk for whatever other illicit game you wanted to play.

[Guest Zeokage]

Ahhh yes, I remember that being the only way you could play GTA London. If I'm right. Which I'm probably not. Im going to sleep.

[-A-]

I can't really complain about them doing this since they are just enforcing law, but how is this part of the ICE's jurisdiction?

My uncle works for ICE.

He used to work for homeland security but post 9/11 some divisions of homeland security that were working on immigration were merged into another division separate from homeland security that focuses on drug smuggling.

The idea behind ICE according to my uncle was that most smuggling efforts are directly connected to immigration.

I'll ask him next time I see him when and if they routinely bust technology smugglers :blink: