Main > Consoles
Xbox mod
clanggedin:
FYI... Here's a tidbit on the MODCHIP legality issue.
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,20870905%5E15317%5E%5Enbv%5E15306,00.html
ChadTower:
In Australia.
clanggedin:
Here's a quote from the Modchip Wiki
"Many companies are now selling modchips without any possibly DMCA-infringing BIOS code loaded onto the EEPROM portion of the chip module, or loading it with a totally legal BIOS containing none of the manufacturer's copyrighted code (for example the Cromwell BIOS developed by the Xbox Linux Project). It is then up to the customer to separately obtain a copy of their desired (possibly illegal) firmware and then to flash it into EEPROM."
So in essence modchips aren't illegal. It's what you install on them that makes them illegal. If you use them in a way that doesn't circumvent the DMCA copy-protecction then you are in your legal right to do so.
OK BACK ON TOPIC.....
ChadTower:
That's where it becomes grey. In the past, devices that serve no other purpose than to circumvent security measures have been considered also illegal whether they in and of themselves fit that definition or not. DirecTV used that law to go after thousands of signal hackers and won a lot of cases where the hackers were buying boards with empty eeproms and loading the hacked software themselves. Those boards, however, had no possible other use. The Xbox modchips aren't quite so cut and dry as to which ones can have uses other than loading up an XDK compiled BIOS.
It comes down to this:
1) Is it free of anything illegal as sold?
2) Does it have any legitimate use that does not require loading illegal software?
If you can't answer yes to both questions, many localities consider the device itself to be an illegal trade tool and thus illegal itself.
shmokes:
Shouldn't the answers to those questions be no for localities to consider them illegal? :)