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Mod Chips and Homebrew: A Recipe for Their Continued Use in the Wake of Sony v. Divineo |
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Written by Phillip A. Harris Jr.
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Tuesday, 08 January 2008 |
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Page 1 of 4
Phillip A. Harris Jr.
Sony v. Divineo appears to sound the death knell for use of mod chips within video game systems. With a three million dollar damages claim against a mod chip distributor, it is becoming cost prohibitive to sell these chips directly to consumers. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, with its potentially crushing requirements, stifles the creativity and innovation of mod chip distributors and overlooks fair use as a defense for the use of mod chips. Fortunately, the next batch of legal forays into the world of mod chips may allow for better outcomes for mod chip distributors. With existing, valid arguments for significant noninfringing uses and lessons provided by other countries, victories in lawsuits against video game monopoly holders may not be far away.
Cite as 9 N.C. J.L. & Tech. 113 (2007) |
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I. Introduction
I hated Contra.
I could barely make it to the third level before inevitably exhausting all three of my lives and having to start all over again. Whether I used a fireball gun, machine gun, or laser, I simply could not win. I would jump and crouch, but despite all of my valiant efforts, I would die. Until I acquired the Konami code,
Contra was worthless to me. Once I input the simple code, I became a video game god. Not only did I rush into battle and destroy the evil Red Falcon, I did it with the style and abandon of a man who knew he could not die, or at least had thirty lives before he did. As I turned the Nintendo off, amid the explosions of Red Falcon's death, I realized that I had truly accomplished something great. The best part about the code was that it worked on over one hundred subsequent games.
As in the above illustration, video game players cheat.
It is extremely difficult not to want to cheat, especially with the complexity of games.
Cheating within video gaming has turned into a perennial quest to see who is the best, not only in game play, but in creating a video game system for all to envy.
The use of mod chips and homebrew software
in video game systems represents the next generation of game players' attempts to cheat the system.
These enhancement devices demonstrate the increasing creativity and innovation of consumers determined to overcome the shortcomings of monopolized video game systems. Despite this creativity and innovation, video game manufacturers aided by the executive and judicial branches, have diligently pursued the distributors of these enhancement devices.
This Recent Development analyzes Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. v. Divineo, Inc.,
a recent decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and proposes a legal strategy which could assist the creators and distributors of enhancement hardware and software in beating back the rising tide of legal actions threatening to overcome them.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 29 May 2008 )
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