MrModchips Wins Appeal in 1M GBP UK Modchip Case

[wozzo]

In a landmark historic occasion today 11 June 2008 at the court of appeal criminal division the legal argument that modchips do not circumvent copyright protection was upheld by Judge Justice Jacobs.

The granting of this appeal based on the argument that the copyright infringement has already taken place before the use of a modchip has resulted in the squashing of all 26 counts against MrModchips

The defendant MrModchips was awarded full costs as a result of his successful appeal and offered his most sincerest thanks to his legal team and his many well wishers who had supported his fight for justice in the face of what are now no more than corporate public bullies.

The normally very vocal Michael Rawlinson from ELSPA was strangely unavailable for comment today.

Mr Rawlinson was originally quoted as saying: "It marks a milestone in the fight against piracy."

What it does now is mark a milestone in the fight against overzealous independent agencies who have their strings pulled by corporations as opposed to the genuine concerns of the electorate.

What will these mean for modchips in the UK ?????? Truly a disaster for the likes of ELSPA and Trading Standards.


News-Source: team-xecuter.com

 

[MFCGMFC]

YYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

GIRFUY trading standards!!

a win for the little man

Cheers
MFCGAVMFC

 

[notanotherone]

nice one i mind hearing about the ruling but didnt pay much attention to it at first but now ive read it what a good win :banana::Clap:

 

[witchy]

I'm very surprised this came off, I assume this'll open the floodgates for traders selling and developing hacks without fear of repercussions.

Hairy Beasts lawyers will no doubt be preparing a similar appeal.

Well done Mr.Modchips and Good luck H and Novice.

 

[karym6]

well, its quite a good point - MrModChips didnt break copyright, it was done way before he sold the chip(s). But, I guess the new argument is, should he be allowed to spread the breach? I imagine that this isnt covered by law in the UK.

I spoke to one of my mates about this, he mentioned that selling a modchip is like selling a fake dvd down the market. I said no it isnt, its more like selling a DVD burner and DVD-Rs down the market...

 

[c9679]

It was a silly case against him anyway, just like the guys that got sentenced for the Virgin stuff... Its just the big boys trying to set an example, realistically if they had, had the money they would have got of from it... If the judges had any technical expertise in these things these cases would get thrown out because there isnt really anything illegal in that...

Making a guide to program a fun card, is not illegal... Its illegal to actually program the card and use it to watch free tv but the knowledge to do it, in itself isnt illegal, I know how to change IMEI's on some phones I could write a guide and software to do that but unless I actually do that on a phone, its not illegal... There are lots of guides on making bombs and illegal weapons even on Youtube, that doesnt mean the posters get arrested for being terrorists, lol

The whole case behind it didnt really have much of a basis, just the big companies have enough money to hire the best legal representation

 

[2primo]

Minter :banana: i will be back to importing copy mod chips from Asia again LOL And putting my web page back up !!
See how long before the big boys start trading in chips again AFTER they jumped ship @ the prospect of a spell in the clink an i also wonder if they offered there competitor support through this .....
lets see what the outcome will be
bald ,neo ,max etc etc all waiting to get there stash out lol

 

[karym6]

It was a silly case against him anyway, just like the guys that got sentenced for the Virgin stuff... Its just the big boys trying to set an example, realistically if they had, had the money they would have got of from it... If the judges had any technical expertise in these things these cases would get thrown out because there isnt really anything illegal in that...

Making a guide to program a fun card, is not illegal... Its illegal to actually program the card and use it to watch free tv but the knowledge to do it, in itself isnt illegal, I know how to change IMEI's on some phones I could write a guide and software to do that but unless I actually do that on a phone, its not illegal... There are lots of guides on making bombs and illegal weapons even on Youtube, that doesnt mean the posters get arrested for being terrorists, lol

The whole case behind it didnt really have much of a basis, just the big companies have enough money to hire the best legal representation

well, not really - advising someone on how to defeat some security or to alter information that cannot be altered legally in that persons country could see you as an accessory to a crime.

Buying a preprogrammed modchip doesnt really imply the same crime, or intent to commit a crime. Selling it, possibly - but this appeal would now make a conviction harder to get.

 

[c9679]

"advising someone on how to defeat some security or to alter information that cannot be altered legally in that persons country could see you as an accessory to a crime."

- Thats only true if you go out of your way to actually detail complete steps on defeating that security and its hard even then to convict as an accessory to a crime like that... You could point out to a security guard that their security camera isnt pointed in the right direction, if a criminal overhears you and takes advantage of that, how would that make you an accessory.

There are guides on lock picking, that doesnt mean that those people get locked up because people use those guides to break into peoples houses, they would get locked up if the people writing those guides where caught breaking in or with lock picking tools and swag bags at their house

It wasnt really a cable issue as I dont really mind the cable section not being here, in fact I seem to visit more since it went, lol... but I do think a lot of these stories are hyped a lot by the people in the media and a lot of the times the actual cases dont really have much of a basis behind them, its just the big corps with lots of money trying to win at all costs and hyping the cases to set an example

 

[demonx]

NOOOOOOOOOOO You should not be happy about this.
Mrmodchips suck balls, seriously they will just continue scamming more customers now. Great...

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/MrModchips

 

[karym6]

"advising someone on how to defeat some security or to alter information that cannot be altered legally in that persons country could see you as an accessory to a crime."

- Thats only true if you go out of your way to actually detail complete steps on defeating that security and its hard even then to convict as an accessory to a crime like that... You could point out to a security guard that their security camera isnt pointed in the right direction, if a criminal overhears you and takes advantage of that, how would that make you an accessory.

There are guides on lock picking, that doesnt mean that those people get locked up because people use those guides to break into peoples houses, they would get locked up if the people writing those guides where caught breaking in or with lock picking tools and swag bags at their house

It wasnt really a cable issue as I dont really mind the cable section not being here, in fact I seem to visit more since it went, lol... but I do think a lot of these stories are hyped a lot by the people in the media and a lot of the times the actual cases dont really have much of a basis behind them, its just the big corps with lots of money trying to win at all costs and hyping the cases to set an example

well, lock picking isnt illegal in the first place is it? This only supports my point - whilst picking a lock is a lawful skill, if used incorrectly or unlawfully it could be used to commit a crime. This is similar to many of the things discussed here - for instance having equipment to flash rom isnt illegal, but there may be some times where its useage could break the law.

The comment on the security guard is misplace, if a security guard is caught talking about a blindspot in the CCTV where they work - this would never make him an accessory to any crime. However, if the information was knowingly offered up to support an activity that could be illegal, then they become an accessory.

 

[c9679]

well, lock picking isnt illegal in the first place is it? This only supports my point - whilst picking a lock is a lawful skill, if used incorrectly or unlawfully it could be used to commit a crime. This is similar to many of the things discussed here - for instance having equipment to flash rom isnt illegal, but there may be some times where its useage could break the law.

Exactly, information on how to read and write a fun card is not illegal, reading an original Mosc card which is still on a subscription service is illegal... However just as an example most the guides out there are not complete step by step how to's on how to get all the channels free... If you take each one individually they are not illegal at all

Writing cards and programming isnt illegal, mods to anything you legally own is not illegal neither...

 

[karym6]

mods to anything you legally own is not illegal neither...

I dont normally like to pick out quotes like this, but... It may not be illegal for me to modify a peice of equipment I own, but say I mod a mobile phone I bought sim free to work differently on my network. I own the phone, so can do whatever I like with it, but if I try to apply a mod that involves reverse engineering I may be breaking a copyright law. I could also be in breach of contract with my network also for trying to make the device behave in a different manner.

The law isnt as clear cut as you make out, whilst we are all free to do as we please with these toys we own, we could trip on on legal points we had not anticipated. Such is the case with some people who have been in the news lately.

 

[witchy]

NOOOOOOOOOOO You should not be happy about this.
Mrmodchips suck balls, seriously they will just continue scamming more customers now. Great...

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/MrModchips

I've used MrModchips a few times, I've always had great service from him.

Gulp, I just had a read of at that link, some pretty scary reviews.

 

[english]

i got a magic key for the ds off him, it wasn't compatible for the ds i had. when i asked if he'd swap it for one that was he said no because there's nothing wrong with it, even tho i offered to pay for postage, and this was on the phone. not the best customer service.