I just stumbled across this msnbc article: X Box Modder Could Spend three years in Prison. Apparently a man got prosecuted for charging people to modify their X Boxes to enable them to play pirated games. Do you believe that's grounds for three years in prison?
I don't. Microsoft has no right to prosecute people for changing their systems once it's been bought. Once an item's been bought the consumer should be able to do whatever they want with it. He wasn't pirating games. He wasn't stealing anything from the company. Clearly Microsoft has overstepped their boundaries.
I don't neccesarily believe that what the modder did was kosher, but I am very much against corporations dictating how we use their products. That's really at the root of the issue. Agree? Disagree? Let's get some discussion.
Wow. I agree. Once you buy something you own it. It's yours. Do with it what you please. Even if what your doing isn't completely right, it's your decision. And 3 years is a long time for pirating. Are they allowed to do that? I feel like this guy could fight that amount of time.
ReplyDeleteYeah, apparently he's arguing that his modification was designed to backup games in case their first copy broke, they could play another copy they made themself. I'm not so sure how well that argument will hold up, but it should at least knock off a few years. I doubt he'll get sentenced for three, that'd be ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI agree, with both of you. How is this different from people altering anything else they buy? I know plenty of people who will buy an older computer and add different elements to make it as functional, if not more, than newer one but this is so much cheaper. In a way, I think thats related because they are using the technology in a manner different than what the company intended it for- can they be imprisoned for that? Ridiculousssss.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that Microsoft, a company that makes computers that cater to programmers and tech-savvy individuals would stoop to this level. Their job is to create a system that is not capable of "piracy" if it matters that much.
ReplyDeleteI agree in that I do not think it should not be a three years prison sentence. So many people are out there pirating and stealing music, movies and games that we could not afford to put them all in prison. I do not think it was okay to modify the game systems but he should have onlyl been fined. There is really no need to put someone in prison for pirating when there are murders and rapist on the streets.
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