Student faces three years in prison for modifying Xbox 360!

reply to post by kyle12345


The point being made here is that many things that can be used for illegal purposes can also be used for legal one's too. You even made that point yourself.

If the modding PREVENTED the consoles from being able to use legal paid for software, then i'd agree that the kid should be prosecuted...but that's not what happened here. The consoles could still play legit titles.

If the owner then chose to download and play games, then it's for the authorities to catch the owner using illegal software, not the kid with a screwdriver.

DVD burners are enabled to assist in the piracy of software...but, like the modded consoles, they are also able to be used for legal purposes too. If they were strictly and solely able to run just pirated software, it would be a different story.

reply to post by spikey


I would like to add to your comment, what I have been saying through this entire thread, but some people just don't seem to be able to grasp it....

On consoles, it is impossible to use any "burnt" disc for games, so this limits the ability of people to write their own games, or games written by other people freely available for download on the internet, this is called homebrew, it was "brewed (wrote/coded)" at someones home.

I myself wrote a Mortal Kombat II style clone featuring my friends, which got a barrage of giggles at drinks night.

A lot of people who have the ability to make these games, or who want to play these LEGAL games do not know how to mod their console (I do thankfully) to do so, so they take it to someone who does.

YES, a lot of people have them modded for pirate games, but not everybody, and those who do do it for illegal purposes will never play on Xbox Live.

The people who should be punished are the people who sell pirated games for a living, not the person who mods the console. The console has been bought, Microsoft have made their money on that front, wheres the problem?

Wow, that's strange, putting it mildly. If jailbreaking isn't illegal, than why is this? America is more free than most countries, but in a strange way, more oppressing and unfree than most countries.