The Big Mod-Chip Trial!

[garyopa]

I know this is related to the XBOX side of modding them, but it very KEY trial, as it is turning point, if the "modder" that is fighting hard against the ESA wins, it will make it more or less legal for PS3 Jailbreak'ers in the USA.

BUT, if the ESA wins, and he goes to prison, it will give Sony 100% power to round up everyone Jailbreak'ing their PS3 console, and throw them in prison also.

Lucky for us PS3 owners, this "XBOX modder" has the guts to fight the ESA and win one for everyone, unlike the early "Sony vs Jailbreak'ers" case I been reporting on, they just decided to agree and let Sony walk all over them.

I personally know how hard it is to fight the ESA, I spent 2 years of my life doing the same, at a huge cost to myself, but I won and send the ESA home with their head down, and their tails cut off, so I am 100% in support of this case, and I am glad to see he has been able to talk "Bunnie" the original XBOX hacker to support him in his fight, all tho they are trying hard to block him from appearing in court!

Prosecutors Seek to Block Xbox Hacking Pioneer From Mod-Chip Trial

Want a live tutorial on how to hack an Xbox by the guy who actually wrote the book on it?

If so, you should plan to attend what likely will be the nation’s first federal jury trial of a defendant accused of jailbreaking Xbox 360s — installing mod chips that allow the console to run pirated or home-brew games and applications.

Celebrity geek Andrew “Bunnie” Huang, the designer of the Chumby and author of the 2003 title Hacking the Xbox: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering, has agreed to testify for a southern California man charged under the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The defendant in the case, 28-year-old Matthew Crippen of Anaheim, allegedly ran a business modding Xbox 360s for between $60 and $80 a pop. He was charged after he performed the silicon surgery for an undercover corporate security investigator with the Entertainment Software Association, then again for an undercover ICE agent. He faces up to three years in prison if convicted of both counts.

The 35-year-old Huang argues that mod-chipping is not a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which makes it unlawful to circumvent technology designed to prevent copyright infringement. He said he hopes to prove that point to jurors via a step-by-step tutorial.

“Basically, what he did was insufficient on his own to violate anything,” Huang said in a recent telephone interview from Singapore, where he serves as vice president of hardware and general manager for Chumby’s operations in Asia.

Additionally, Huang said, the DMCA should be interpreted to allow for “fair use” exemptions, so chipping a console for legitimate purposes would be permitted, even if it is found to be a circumvention.

The U.S. Copyright Office, he noted, just granted an exception to the DMCA to allow the jailbreaking of cellphones, and the iPhone in particular, allowing the iPhone to run third-party apps not approved by Apple. Modding a game console should be treated the same way, he said.

“The bottom line, I would like to see the scope of the DMCA limited to an appropriate statute that respects fair use, one that respects traditional rights,” he said.

But if federal prosecutors have their way, the scheduled Nov. 30 trial in Los Angeles won’t include Huang’s testimony. Prosecutors earlier this month asked the judge presiding over the case to preclude Huang from testifying on the grounds that his testimony would be legally irrelevant. The government says fair use is not a defense (.pdf) to a DMCA charge, and argues that Huang’s legal opinions are inadmissible. A ruling is pending.

Huang is no stranger to the DMCA himself. In 2003, publisher Wiley & Sons canceled publication of his Xbox hacking book amid concerns it painted a roadmap for DMCA violations. The book, which included chapters on “Soldering Techniques” and “Installing a Blue LED,” was ultimately released by No Starch Press.

Cindy Cohn, legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said Crippen’s prosecution underscores a flaw in the DMCA. Every three years, the Library of Congress takes requests to grant exemptions to the law. Months ago, the librarian sided with the EFF’s bid to exempt iPhone jailbreaking from being considered illegal conduct.

“We didn’t ask for game consoles,” Cohn said. “This is why the DMCA process, it’s a pretty inefficient way to think of how the law should be.”

Whether he’s allowed to testify or not, Huang hopes Crippen is acquitted.

“I would hate,” he said, “to have the wrong precedent set.”

Neither Crippen, his attorneys nor prosecutors would comment for this story.

News Source: Prosecutors Seek to Block Xbox Hacking Pioneer From Mod-Chip Trial (via) Wired.com

[JonahUK]

I've just been reading about this.

Bunnie was "the" xbox hacker. If he isn't allowed to testify, it would be a total piss-take.

The guy probably knows more than the prosecutions expert witnesses, which is why they don't want his testimony included.

[Shrek]

Good luck to him, I hope he wins.

[thx1138]

IF you buy it it is your's it is up to you what you do with it, if not just rent the dam machine.

my xbox is in my bedroom hook up to my freenas box for videos and movies,
that is my ice cream on my apple pie it is not hurting anyone .
the courts should not have a say in what we do with our own stuf

thx1138

[foldor]

I know we'll all be pushing for him to win. I'm on the fence about whether I believe he'll be able to pull it off still. Like you said, it was ruled in favor of jailbreaking iPhones, and this is essentially no different. So hopefully they'll be bale to draw parallels to them in court, and convince the jury that it's unfair the punish those of use who are legit because of the bad apples.

[ihaveathumb]

You should get into contact with him garyopa. Offer him w/e kind of support you can.

[JNABK]

Well even if Huang's not allowed to testify, he could still 'advise' Crippen and still get his point across in Court.

They (prosecution) dont want him to 'confuse' the Jury on how 'vague' the DMC law actually is, with its grey areas not quite set in stone, able to change every 3 years.

[xPreatorianx]

I understand why this is so important to both scenes. But I also have to agree a little bit with the prosecutors. Paying to mod any machine is illegal. Or it skurts that grey area. I figured someone was gonna be caught eventually on this. Not only do mod shops sell mod chips and price people on the installation but they also tend to sell backup copies. So they run a pirating business as well. I've seen countless mod shops sell backup copies for $5-$10 for 3 games each. So if this dude was dipping into that I wouldn't blame them for taking him to court.

Now if he was only modding the stuff then it's really left up to the judge.

EDIT: So pretty much I'm kinda in the middle on this.

[JNABK]

Pirating is of course the illegal problem, but to prosecute people who want to mod their property, whether it "MIGHT" allow others to use pirated material shouldnt be illegal in itself. Sure it is a major advantage to those who want to aquire a pirate copy, but its those who do the actual pirating that are the ones who are breaking the law. Those devices dont do the pirating, they dont automatically seek out pirated goods available nor do they upload or distribute such pirated goods, so how can they be illegal as is?

I can 'sypmathise' with manufacture'ers to protect their goods from piracy, but cutting off someones hands 'just because they might' pirate is a bit over the top in my opinion. If they find modders also pirating goods, sure, throw the book at them for pirating goods, but dont kill the chance for legitmate users to use a product because others might misuse it.

[xPreatorianx]

Pirating is of course the illegal problem, but to prosecute people who want to mod their property, whether it "MIGHT" allow others to use pirated material shouldnt be illegal in itself. Sure it is a major advantage to those who want to aquire a pirate copy, but its those who do the actual pirating that are the ones who are breaking the law. Those devices dont do the pirating, they dont automatically seek out pirated good available nor do they upload or distribute such pirated goods, so how can they be illegal as is?

I can 'sypmathise' with manufacture'ers to protect their goods from piracy, but cutting off someones hands 'just because they might' pirate is a bit over the top in my opinion. If they find modders also pirating goods, sure, throw the book at them for pirating goods, but dont kill the chance for legitmate users to use a product because others might misuse it.

Well I'm not really talking about that and I completely agree with you. But I find it kinda shady to take a device, hack the hell out of it and then sell the procedure you used to other people. Don't you think it's kind of skating the line? Which is probably why he is in court. I'm not saying he deserves to rot, I'm just looking at it from both angles and I can't seem to decide which way to lean.

But I will say in contrast, that people should be able to do whatever they want with their own hardware. I'm just a little iffy on the selling the service part of it.