Sony busts down mod-chip retailer with $9 mil. lawsuit
By Paul Miller 
posted Oct 5th 2006 6:40PM
posted Oct 5th 2006 6:40PM
Everybody's favorite far-reaching, possibly free speech-infringing law, the DMCA, is being put to use again for busting down on Divineo, a seller of mod-chips. Sony has slapped them with a $9 million lawsuit for selling the chips, along with HDLoader, which allows a PS2 to rip games and store them to a HDD for "jukebox" access. Until recently, Divineo was selling a whole bevy of Xbox, Xbox 360, PSOne, PS2, GameCube and other system mod-chips. They've also got other slightly more innocuous devices like that snazzy 4GB DS-Xtreme which gives you homebrew action on the DS without any hacking. Though, we're not sure such attempts of theirs at semi-legibility will do much to appease Sony. There's no official response from Divineo yet, but since they're a France-based company, it seems like the best Sony can do with the DMCA is get them out of the states. The last time we saw the DMCA in action like this, a trio of Xbox modders were facing up to 5 years of prison time, but they ended up with just a few years of probation, and one of 'em got slapped with 6 months of home detention, Martha Stewart-style. They also had to pay $2,600 to the ESA, so it really seems like Sony has decided to up the stakes for Divineo's offenses. Interestingly, while those Xbox modders were loading cracked games galore onto the boxes of customers, Divineo only sells tools that make piracy possible -- interesting indeed.
"..attempts of theirs at semi-legibility.."
Really, they were trying to be semi-readable? that's a crime? you guys at engadget really better start running cuz johnny law will be after you next ;)
I wonder if http://www.eff.org/ will help them out. I dont believe it is ilegal to sell the hardware as the devices are not breaking a copyright.
"Semi-legibility"...? *shakes head in sorrow*
Maybe the term he was searching for was "semi-legality", or perhaps "semi-legitimacy"? How very sad.
good thing my ds flash cartridge just shipped... these things really do have a use, I'm going to try and run some of the homebrew apps out there on it, as well as some of my own apps. It's a shame companies see the homebrew scene as a threat, because we bolster hardware sales if anything.
Sony lost a similar suit in Australia. However, laws differ from country to country.
Looks like Sony needs to recoup that money they've been losing lately on their bad movies, game consoles, lawsuits with immersion & rootkits, and batteries. But piracy is wrong, so I'm for them shutting them down.
I'm all against piracy too, but my Xbox mod came from these guys and it isn't used to steal games.
The XBMC is the single greatest reason to own an Xbox. It is the only thing I use my Xbox for.
Access to the internet, movies and movie trailers and
it will play every disc I throw at it....I could go on, but why bother.
Funny how often Sony talks about the homebrew/linux scene and yet it's the last thing they really support.
Sony this is just lame. I hope you go under soon and something better is born from the ashes.
The need the money to cover the losses they're going to take on the PS3.
I don't think any company that sells hardware at a loss (like video game companies) want their product used in anyway that does not put gravy on the plate.
So: If I buy a PS3. Wait, even crazier: If I buy 2 PS3's, and just set them in basement to collect dust, will Sony come after me? So what if I make those puppies into my very own PC? Then what? And if I make those plans available to others? When do I cross the line?
You can do what ever you want with the PS3's that you buy, except for make them able to pirate games that you the user did not purchase. That is where the line is, not a thin line at all, but rather a big black line right there infront of you MORON.
Bob L.
Sounds like Sony is more worried about recouping losses than making quality products, whether it be batteries or music CDs.
Memory stick.
That's all I need to say to show what a joke Sony is.
Maybe if Sony made optical drives that lasted, People wouldn't need HDLoader.
Mine still reads CDs fine enough to load the independence exploit.
This is wrong. Why can't I as a consumer do whatever I want to do with MY product, that I purchased? Why does this concept escape so many people, and let Sony (or whoever) pull this kind of crap.
Smoke_Dawg_187: Just because someone buys a modchip doesn't mean its piracy. People copying games they don't have to harddrives using mods is piracy. It's not the mod chips fault, it's the persons fault.
It's like blaming the car of a drunk driver for the accident. I don't understand how people can think this way.
My PS2-to-PC controller adapter came from those guys.
While I had a very rough time with them, I'd much rather see Sony rot.
No It's not, It's like someone selling Hollow-Point Rifle Rounds. They COULD be used for Hunting or they could be used to Kill a Police Officer.
"like that snazzy 4GB DS-Xtreme which gives you homebrew action on the DS without any hacking."
You should really clarify; it's 4Gb (as in Gigabit not Gigabyte) not 4GB.
There's 8 bits to 1 byte, meaning it's 512MB.
Funny how they posted 512MB/4Gb correctly in the first article...
Oh also, this is like busting the car dealership that sold the car that was being driven by the drunk driver when the drunk driver crashed into someone.
No, you see a car has many good uses, such as taking you to little league games and elementary school. These mod chips on the other hand have one very distinct use, to pirate games onto a medium that was not authorized and is in fact quite illegal.
(You don't like the user license agreement you agree to when you open the game case, then don't buy the game.)
Bob L.
You guys just don't get it; sony looses money on each game system they sell, planing on making it all back by selling you games for $50 a piece.
This is why they try to put a stop the the whole homebrew concept, you are not paying them back for their system.
It is one thing to let your system sit in the basement for all eternity, but if you go out and sell modchips that allow you to use the system without buying their disks (either by pryating the disks, or buy selling chips that let you use it as a standalone dvd player, or computer, or whatever) then everyone goes out and buys a system (which costs sony/microshaft/nintendo money) and doesn't get any of those games. And sony looses money. And for that they are pissed. (that is why the linux kit for the ps2 cost like $500, they knew you wouldn't buy any more games, so they wanted their money up front)
And I can't blame them, if you sold someone your lawnmower for 1/2 what you paid for it, expecting them to pay you to mow their lawn, and then they make their kid use it, you would be pissed and expect your mower back... (crappy example, but it might just get the idea across)
I like the hollow point round analogy...
BTW, don't get me wrong that the systems are better after being modded, it just isn't what the man wants you to do... He want you to go out and buy a real computer...
You guys just don't get it; sony looses money on each game system they sell, planing on making it all back by selling you games for $50 a piece.
This is why they try to put a stop the the whole homebrew concept, you are not paying them back for their system.
It is one thing to let your system sit in the basement for all eternity, but if you go out and sell modchips that allow you to use the system without buying their disks (either by pryating the disks, or buy selling chips that let you use it as a standalone dvd player, or computer, or whatever) then everyone goes out and buys a system (which costs sony/microshaft/nintendo money) and doesn't get any of those games. And sony looses money. And for that they are pissed. (that is why the linux kit for the ps2 cost like $500, they knew you wouldn't buy any more games, so they wanted their money up front)
And I can't blame them, if you sold someone your lawnmower for 1/2 what you paid for it, expecting them to pay you to mow their lawn, and then they make their kid use it, you would be pissed and expect your mower back... (crappy example, but it might just get the idea across)
I like the hollow point round analogy...
BTW, don't get me wrong that the systems are better after being modded, it just isn't what the man wants you to do... He want you to go out and buy a real computer...
Bob, you reply so hatefully. Was my comment/question offensive? Have you or a loved one been adversly affected by the thoughtless actions of others? Do you hate me because I'm Asian?
Why, Bob, why? Why be so angry?
ok, ok. that last one was sarcastic.
The point people are talking about here is, if someone really wants to steal, they'll do it. No matter how much security or whatever, there will always be someone who will disobey the law.
And, you are wrong if you see this only as a use to pirate. Like cars, (which are also used as a getaway vehicles, overrun and kill someone, and indirectly killing everyone on the planet by means of carbon monoxide), it has it's uses.
Advantage of these so called mods, is for "legitimate" owners of games be able to play their back-up. Hence prolonging the life of their games and prolonging the ridiculous short life span of the lens.
If there is a modchip for your car to make it run using water as a fuel to save on gas-Would you go for it? And I'm sure the gas companies will try to shut this modchip down for their own profit.
there are others too such as playing LEGALY bought games from japan on US system
wile still being able to play your US games
Wow! $9 Mil?! Is that the equivalent lawsuit other people filed against them for the exploding batteries?
Rod Lim, I disagree. Memory Stick is a great invention! In digital cameras, it forces you to rest in between shots because of it's slowness. And it forces you to save money - because it's more darn expensive than other memory storage that you would think twice of buying another one!
I liked PS2...but I'm going to go for WII. PS3 might also explode.
"These mod chips on the other hand have one very distinct use, to pirate games onto a medium that was not authorized and is in fact quite illegal"
No, there is another use. Namely backing up games, which is still legal.
If I'm going to be paying 50 bucks a game, I should damn well have the ability to back the game up.
With the crappy sony hardware quality, I would like to use my ps2's already-fickle laser as little as possible. Hence the need for hdloader.
I have a right to have one backup of a game I own, and I keep that copy on the big hard drive in my ps2, and my retail copy in a closet.
The end user is at fault for any illegal activity.
Divineo has directly caused $0 loss in revenue for Sony.
No wait! I get it. These modchips are actually making Sony LOSE money. Why? If you play games in the harddrive using HDLoader, the LENS will stay intact, hence SONY loses money from LENS REPLACEMENTS, REPAIRS, ETC. Because they know they made crappy hardware. Like PS1, I know a friend who had to replace his lens thrice! Big moolah for Sony there. And my PS2 after only 6 months of seldom used, had been sent to repair for $80. And my Sony camera, for only a year had also been repaired for $200! ($85 for check-up only!!!) And after the repair, the image quality became crappy! Should've just thrown it away.
the modchips also allow people to play legitimately purchased games from a region other than yours.
I think companies should sell easily hackable versions of their products for a bit more than cost. They would make a profit and please the homebrew community.
Thenagain, its probably more fun to play with the "unhackable" version. Not to mention with my plan cheeper.
How come everyone seem to have this huge desire to use a game console as a media console? Just buy a HTPC and install a nice Linux-distro. Or support these guys:
http://www.lixsystems.net/lix/index.htm
Not only do you have to mess with cracking the console, buying (or building) a normal HTPC will (for roughly the same amount of money) give you the ability to record tv and radio, edit movies, surf the web, burn movies, mp3's, play games (we,, a few games at least), serve media content to the rest of the house, house a mail, ftp and web server etc, etc..
All of the consoles of today (xbox, xbox 360, PS2 and the upcoming PS3) also makes quite a lot of noise and consume lots of electricity.
I would like to add to this lens quality comment, It is absolutely ridiculous for a company such as Sony is to make such a poor lasting product. The battery situation thats been going on lately has been slightly blown out of porportion verses the dismal failures of these laser lenses on the PS2 console.
It would not suprise me in the least to see this carry over to the PS3 which is exacly why I will be waiting until much later down the road to buy one.
I currently use the hard drive copy software hdloader purchaced from Divineo just to save my laser when playing games- this does not constitute an illegal action. This lawsuit just proves that Sony has no dynamic game plan to help the consumer, only resorting to communist tactics to stop everyone from any kind of free thinking outside the box.
I am also currently searching for a mod chip for the reason of circumventing the laser all together, I will still only play games I own but with a mod chip that boots sony's lame protection, loading a copy of hdloader onto a memory card or thumb drive and using the games off a hard drive. This is the way to go- no disk; complete laser freedom. This is still not illegal if I still own the game where the copy protection is located, I have just merely shifted the copy protection process to my mod chip. Sony is not losing money if I own the game.
sony needs to ease off, the company cant be held liable for what we the consumer do, its like buying a mod chip for your computer or your cars computer, they dont know that you dont race on a track, all they do is provide a service and a product to those who want it for what ever purpose they want it for.
on the other hand if they come after me for it i wont purchase any more of their products so they'll lose money...
A mod chips sole purpose is NOT for playing backups, but also for playing imports. I live in Japan and I can get any console a lot cheaper than I can in the states. Problem is, I speak sukoshi nihongo (little Japanese) so, a mod chip will allow me to play my "purchased" American games on my Japanese console.