Italian Court Rules Mod Chips Are Legal

[Tezcatlipoca]

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content...e=ret&aid=2858

Rob Fahey 12:07 23/01/2004

Console owners have the right to "use it as they see fit" - at least in Italy

A court in Italy has dealt a major blow to the efforts of the platform holders to crack down on mod chips, ruling that PS2 mod chip devices are designed to "avoid monopolistic positions."

The case was brought over a seizure of modded PlayStation 2s by the Italian authorities some days previously, with the court deciding that this seizure was illegal and that modding consoles is a legitimate practice.

The chips "avoid monopolistic positions and improve the possibilities for use of the PlayStation," according to the ruling, which described Sony's attempts to limit the uses of the PS2 as "absurd," pointing out that the console cannot play titles from other geographic regions or home-made software products.

The decision was focused on an interpretation of Italian law relating to a company's right to limit the use of its products once they have been sold, with the final conclusion being that "the product's owner can use it as they see fit."

That's not what the console manufacturers will have wanted to hear, given that their business model is largely based on the idea of selling console hardware at a loss (at least in the early parts of its lifespan) and restricting its use to playing licensed software only so that the money can be recouped through licensing fees.

"It's a little like Fiat marketing its cars while banning them from being driven by non-European citizens or outside towns," the court commented. The Italian case may well have knock-on effects on other products which are available in the country, such as region-locked DVD players - and it may even embolden mod chippers in other European countries with similar laws to press legal cases over the issue.

The report into the case was published by the Association pour la Liberte dans les Communications Electroniques Interactives, a similar body to the United States' Electronic Frontier Foundation.

[Tricky]

Everyone should be banned from driving fiat cars. I cannot imagine that the "It's OK to chip" will catch on, if it does the price of software will fall (good) but the base console price will sky rocket or people will pull out of the market because it will no longer generate massive profits. Look at OnDigital, they'd still be running today if they hadn't used a dodgy security system that had been cracked in France months before they launched.

You can just imagine ringing SOny, Microsoft, Nintendo saying my xxx has stopped working cos I tried to chip it, waiting for guy(ette) on the end the phone to stop laughing and explain how many F's are in go away.

[imback]

Chipping should be legal, playing pirated software shouldn't.

I can make any modifications to my car that I want to as long as it's my property, so why should a console be any different? Beats me.

[zoombini]

Exactly, so perhaps we need some Italian judges over here to rule.

I wonder how many chip selling sites will appear now I.E modchips.co.it ?