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[curlybop]

So... where DO we stand when it comes to the law, copyright etc... anyone know...

source:  ecoustics.com

The truth about "stealing"
Story: Is MS using 'Halo 2' to thwart Xbox hackers?

Alright, I cannot stand the media and how it puts a bad name on anyone who thinks outside the box, and I also cannot stand the idiots that follow the guidelines and think it is bad as well.

MS's Xbox was the first gaming console of it's kind, an actual computer used to play games. The mod chip was designed to allow the usage of NON-certified discs. True this could lead to "copyright infringment" but please stop calling it "pirating", you have to get your vocabulary terms correct in order for your argument to not sound idiotic.

Illegal Copy - recieving/possessing a non-original product without owning the orignal.

Back-Up Copy - recieving/possessing a non-origanl product while owning the original

Pirating - selling a non-original product to make a profit
Alright now that the terms are out of the way, "pirating" is the only way you can get arrested for copyright infringment, owning/borrowing a back-up of illegal copy will not send you to jail.

Now back to the topic, the "hacked" xbox's open up a world of possibilities. You can change the bios to run an operating system on "your" xbox, Dell doesn't tell you to not upgrade your video card or change your background on your pc, you can change your background, add more programs, run non-multi-million dollar company video games (aka homebrews), and play your legally owned and eligible back-up copies (which Xbox Live does not support, but you are legally allowed to create in the U.S. (possible under section 117 of the Copyright Act)).
Now it's time for another vocabulary lesson :

"hack/hacking" - causing damage to another person or company by illegally accessing their system

Argument - The xbox is already yours, so you are illegally accessing your own system. Think about that one for a minute.
Here is my proposition every time your disc gets scratched call M$ (aka MS) and ask them to send you a new copy because you paid the $50 for the rights to play the game and now the $1-$2 media is no longer good but the $48 of rights are still 100% legally yours.

Not allowing users with mod chips who willingly turn them off and use their storebought copy of a game is a violation of your rights and your privacy. That shows that you shelled out $150-$300 for your system, $20-$70 for a year of the xbox live subscription, and $50 for the brand new game, and MS feels that because you have a mod chip that is off, so the system is in a 100% original same as off the shelf state, is a violation to them because you spent $40-$50 for a mod chip that allows you to fully access all aspects of the xbox gaming console (not to mention the extra 4-5 gigabytes of hard drive, all of which you paid for and own, which makes it yours, it isn't rented).

MS's reason - Potentially losing profits. Please note the keyword "potential", who is to say that someone playing an illegal copy of a game would ever purchase it. The company's release so much garbage that sometimes you buy a game because it looks good on the cover then your get home and play it, and it sucks. It looks like they spent more time on the cover art then on the art of the entire game. They show you certain key frames in ads that actually sum up the entire game in a 10 second clip. But don't bother holding them responsible for the lose of sales, blame the "hackers" which are really only any joe somebody's that download a program and search and clicks with a user interface easier then google. Hackers actually have brains and skills which can't be clicked and pointed into 1337N355, and they also have nothing to do with downloading an illegal copy of anything. Because every person who downloads is a lost sale because they didn't pay for it, nope think again they download it because they either don't have the money or wouldn't buy it in the first place. The lose of sales is in the hands of the creators and scapegoating users deffinently won't help attract any sales.

That is how it is, not how I feel, the media makes a download look like the scum of the earth when they are in fact everyones children and friends. It isn't the end of the world if someone who would never purchase a game plays it because they downloaded it.