He shouldn’t have received any jail time for this. Drat.
I hope he appeals…
THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW REACHES OUT TO XBOX MOD CHIPS
A hefty fine and harsh jail sentence for Xbox mod chip retailer
David Rocci sold the Enigma mod chips for the Xbox on his site, IsoNews.com, and was found in breach of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act whose draconian rules seized the site, his equipment and set the wheels of unjustice rolling. He pleaded guilty to selling illegal copyright circumvention devices under the Act.
While we don’t condone the ability to pirate software, this is surely an outrageous and disproportionate punishment for someone who merely facilitated people to tinker with their own Xbox. It is their Xbox once they bought it isn’t it? How many people have a CD-RW in their PC – surely the multinational companies making and distributing these must be party to copying, but I doubt they’re quaking in their boots. It’s like going to a garage and converting your car to run on LPG, is that wrong?
The whole thing stinks. A mod chip’s a mod chip and simply because it can be used for illegal purposes this makes it illegal, and this ruling is from a country that prides itself on its inalienable ‘right to bear arms’; weapons which can be used for illegal purposes.
Here is the full text of the article in case the link goes bad:
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/r/?page=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/news/news_story.php(que)id=89683
Click here for more info
Wednesday 9th April 2003
THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW REACHES OUT TO XBOX MOD CHIPS
A hefty fine and harsh jail sentence for Xbox mod chip retailer
16:55 The long-awaited sentence for David Rocci, who sold Xbox mod chips on his website www.IsoNews.com has come through a month later than expected. And he has been clobbered! A $28,500 fine and five months imprisonment, followed by five months of home detention and three years of probation!
David Rocci sold the Enigma mod chips for the Xbox on his site, IsoNews.com, and was found in breach of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act whose draconian rules seized the site, his equipment and set the wheels of unjustice rolling. He pleaded guilty to selling illegal copyright circumvention devices under the Act.
While we don’t condone the ability to pirate software, this is surely an outrageous and disproportionate punishment for someone who merely facilitated people to tinker with their own Xbox. It is their Xbox once they bought it isn’t it? How many people have a CD-RW in their PC – surely the multinational companies making and distributing these must be party to copying, but I doubt they’re quaking in their boots. It’s like going to a garage and converting your car to run on LPG, is that wrong?
The whole thing stinks. A mod chip’s a mod chip and simply because it can be used for illegal purposes this makes it illegal, and this ruling is from a country that prides itself on its inalienable ‘right to bear arms’; weapons which can be used for illegal purposes.
If I met someone in a dark alley with either a gun or a mod chip, I know who I’d rather bump into – legal or not.
On the bright side, US District Judge James C. Cacheris could have given Mr Rocci the maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $500,000 fine – but we think they did a good enough job of making an example of him!
The sad thing about this case and the Department of Justice running roughshod over anyone involved in Xbox mod chips is that mod chip communities, websites and projects could suddenly disappear. No more nudie DOAXBV skins? Now that would be a tragedy…
Let us know what you think of the ruling on the link below.
Nick Walkland
Oh, where to start with the cluebat….
There are shitloads of things that are “against the law”, from driving 1 mile over the speed limit to jaywalking. In general, most of them have penalties that are appropriate to the level of violation, and most of them are enforced with some level of discretion. The penalties in this case are, in my view, clearly out of line with the level of the violation.
As to the referenced “hollywood liberals”, I think more than one clue is in order here. The business interested represented by the MPAA and the RIAA are, well, the economic elite, and generally tend to pull to the right. The more creative types do tend to be liberal, but many of them have denounced the RIAA and the DCMA and several other FLATs (Four Letter Acronym Things).
Next time, please think (before posting, too).
Uh Jakob, opinions and views are like @$$%&*@$, in that everyone has one and freely gives it. I for am glad your not in the position to espouse your view of the penalty. If you look at the losses the sentence is more than fair.
And to set you straight genius go do some research on the “EXACT” backers of MPAA and RIAA and then find out which party they are aligned with before ass-uming you know better.