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[tankertux]

There I was in Electronics Boutique (my town doesn't have a Best Buy YET) buying an xbox to mod for a friend of mine.  Naturally as a minion for the retail industry, I explain what I plan to do with this xbox and what "modding" is to a few surrounding customers, trying to incite some interest in my services.

The overly concerned clerk on the other side of the counter overhears my conversation, and decided that it was necessary to NOT ONLY point out the fact that he was eavesdropping on a conversation which was none of his business, but also fake concern for the gaming industry.  I say FAKE concern because I know for a fact that this pimply freak owns a modded xbox that I set it up for him (although he claims to have setup a linux distro on it, which I doubt).  

He proceeds to inform me and everyone around me that I should be quiet because many game developers have gone under due to piracy.  I counter by pointing out the fact that I never mentioned anything about piracy, only that many people use a modded xbox as a multimedia center and to backup their hard-earned games (they are expensive as anyone knows) on disc and on the HDD for archiving and for portability.

Next the pompous ass snickers and says that he will be calling the police if I don't cease discussion of modding (for breaking the 1st amendment I'm sure) and threatens to have me banned from the store. He insisted that the laws concerning backups have been changed and that no one is allowed to make ANY backups of legally owned (but copyrighted) material, even for archival purposes.

I want to take a copy of whatever document governs this subject to the store and "correct" the guy (meaning, I want to talk to him and his manager and have him fired).  I don't mind some small debate, but when someone unrightfully calls you a crook and threatens you in front of customers in a store, you want some sort of justice.  Can anyone tell me which legal document governs this subject? (If you're really on the ball, the article and section would be appreciated as well!)

[Chicken Scratch Boy]

dmca makes it illegal to circumvent/break copyright protection or some shit like that

ie: copyright protection violates fair-use?

seems pretty lame to me

<continues to play backup copies with increased loading speeds and without changing disks>

[The unProfessional]

 His boss probably would've done the same.

Although he's just an angry geek, I do see his point.  I probably wouldn't appreciate someone talking about xbox modding in my retail game store, especially if he's trying to sell his services.  That's soliciting.  90% of the modders out there pirate games like crazy, but I don't think any game companies have gone under due to piracy.  They went under because the game market is highly competitive (like the rest of the software market) and rather stale at the moment due to low consumer spending and no recent pc/console hardware breakthroughs.

Probably best to just let it go     If you get yourself into a sticky situation with that store, you'll have nowhere else to go, right?  They can legally choose not to serve you.

[tankertux]

QUOTE

His boss will probably consider what he did pretty noble... ...They can legally choose not to serve you.

*Sigh* Another dream dashed upon the rocks.  I am acquainted with the guy at a locally owned game shop as well (he's a frequent customer there).  Maybe I'll invite him over and "legally serve" him one in the nose (j/k, I know it's not legal).

Yeah, solicitation is a good point.  Man you guys! I thought I would at least get an "I-told-you-so" outta this.  Well, thanks for reading my post (and my venting).  

Well, the prick can enjoy his AVI files on a dinky 14 in CRT in his Momma's basement for all I care, because the xbox makes em prettier on an HDTV   .

[The unProfessional]

He does deserve one to the nose though.

[gcskate27]

*completely a guess, but its probably is true...

[melon]

[nemt]

The bottom line is you own your xbox, and should be able to do whatever you want with it.  You don't own the code for games or applications, even if you own a read only disc with the code on it.  You don't own xbox live, you lease an account to use it.

[Arvarden]

Piracy is a big factor in companies losing money.  The main problem is people who mass produce copies and sell them for £5.00 or cheaper.  This is a massive problem in Asia and is starting to creep over here(UK)with pirates openly selling there warez in shops/computer fairs.

I beleive we are getting a good deal from the developers but we are getting ripped off if we shop in our local high st game store.

[beaumac]

QUOTE (Arvarden @ Jul 16 2004, 11:28 AM)

Piracy is a big factor in companies losing money.  The main problem is people who mass produce copies and sell them for £5.00 or cheaper.  This is a massive problem in Asia and is starting to creep over here(UK)with pirates openly selling there warez in shops/computer fairs. I beleive we are getting a good deal from the developers but we are getting ripped off if we shop in our local high st game store.

It is a factor, it is not a big factor. A big factor is that companies are more concerned with profit than they are with content.   People who bootleg are criminals and should be punished, that is absurd. Theres a difference between downloading something to see if its worth buying and downloading something to make profit, that is unacceptable.  I dont know what its like in other countries but thats for their governments to deal with, I'm talking specifically about the RIAA and the corporate giants in the video game industry (M$,Sony,EA)

[tankertux]

Another thing about EB that bothers me is their trade-in program.  How many of you have tried THAT crap?  You bring in 6 or 7 of your favorite games that you just haven't been playing frequently, and hope that for these 6 or 7 titles, you might be able to walk away with one NEW title that hopefully isn't crap.

I tried this once (never again) when trying to get Driv3r.  I brought in 15 games and thought, "Surely this will buy me Driv3r".  Now don't get me wrong, I understand depreciation and I understand that crap games are worth less.  However, all the games I traded in were VERY popular games from Halo (don't worry, I have a 2nd legal copy) to Crimson Skies.

The guy scanned all the titles and says, "26 bucks".  I wanted to jump over the counter and rip him a new asshole (maybe I have some latent violence issues, you think?).  I asked him to explain why they were worth so little when they were selling the same titles used for something like $26 EACH.
"Well, these few we won't take and this one's worth $0.50 and this one's worth $1.15..."

Give me a break.  EB won't go under anytime soon (unfortunately).  I'll take my business elsewhere.  I suggest everyone support locally owned shops, especially when they accept trade-ins, because the chain policies are crap.

[melon]

Thats why there chains. I always support the independent shop but one has opened in my city that is rip off. I went in the other day and had a look at some of the dreamcast titles they had left. They are all used and were between £20 and £25 each. Thats far, far too much money for an old game.