modchip legalities

[rchadd]

i am wondering about the legalities involved with those manufacturing, selling and installing modchips into consoles. Is it legal?

i don't think microsoft like modchippers very much. i won't be going near xbox live!

i'm not expecting the modchip police  to be knocking on my door very soon 

[crashwg]

As I understand it once you buy a console you own it, it's yours and therefore you have the right to do whatever the hell you want to with it.  Whether that's putting a modchip in it or hitting it with a sledge hammer is up to you...

As for the legalities of the production of modchips, I'm not so informed on that but I do know that they don't provide you with a bios for a reason.

[rchadd]

somehow i think that microsoft will have a different idea...like they licence the use of the machine for only purposes that they allow. thats why they don't like people trying to run linux on it.

doesnt modchip circumvent the built in copy protection/region locking mechanisms of xbox? isnt that against Digital Millennium Copyright Act?

then again i assume modchipped machines are very small percentage of total machines sold. maybe it is tolerated by microsoft.

the ability to modchip xbox does also create some demand - i mean i wouldn't own an xbox if i couldn't modchip it just means you can't go on xbox live.

[Gunstar Hero]

When you buy a console, at least in the US, you buy the hardware and license the software/OS. You can do anything you like as long as the software/OS remains intact.

I hear Europe has a different policy. 

LIVE is a service, and part of it's TOS is that you're using unmodified hardware to join in.

Think if it like a car race that only cars that are bone stock can join. 

[dreamcastninja]

nothing is wrong unless you pirate games