ISONews Busted

[DaveW]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/02/27/industry.copyright.reut/index.html

[|JuiceZ|]

ouch! As much as I feel for the guy, I have to say he had it comming when he signed for those imported mod chips :(

[styles-T]

:fu:

[Tactics]

I seen this early yesterday then 2 hours later it back to normal. I thought it was a joke but now the gov't. page has been there all day. Not good....

[LORD-eX-Bu]

rofl. Hmm... good thing my HD killed itself:D

[wysiwyg]

if you ping the domain you can use the server address, the forums are still active

[LORD-eX-Bu]

I ain't gonna risk it;)

[Smokey]

Originally posted by [eNv]-LORD-eX-Bu
I ain't gonna risk it;) ;)

Dqm, thing is I only heard about that site like 4 days ago, guess I'll be removing it from my favs then!

[PsychoSy]

This is a crock and I hope the dude gets off.



Feds Seize Web Site Selling Mod Chips
By SIOBHAN McDONOUGH
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government has seized a Web site that helped people
bypass anti-piracy technology to play illegal copies of popular video games.

The site, iSONEWS.com, was seized as part of a plea agreement by David M.
Rocci, 22, of Blacksburg, Va. In December 2002, Rocci pleaded guilty in U.S.
District Court to conspiring to import, market and sell devices known as
modification chips.

The chips are designed to get around copyright protections built into game
consoles such as the Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2. Once installed, the
chips allow the user to play pirated games on the consoles.

The government assumed control of Rocci's domain name and Web site this week
and posted information on the site about Rocci's case as well as information
about illegal copyright activity.

The Web site had been used to market mod chips and offered listings of
available pirated games. It had over 100,000 registered users and claimed to
receive over 140,000 hits each day.

Some Internet groups were concerned about the free speech implications of the
government seizing Web sites and domain names.

"It's a far-reaching and radical approach in light of previous Supreme Court
decisions that emphasized the importance of the First Amendment on the
Internet," said David Sobel, general counsel for the Electronic Privacy
Information Center in Washington. "Unfortunately it appears to be a new law
enforcement tactic."

"It adds insult to injury for the government to replace the existing content on
a Web site with new government-approved content," he said. "This could be
equivalent to the death penalty in the context of free speech on the Internet."

Marc Zwillinger, an anti-piracy attorney, said private companies have seized
control of public Web sites in civil cases.

His group has taken over more than 50 satellite piracy Web sites for DirecTV
over the last two years and made them into anti-piracy Web sites.

In the government's case, Zwillinger said: "It's an effective tactic because
people looking at the illegal site all of a sudden see a government site. They
get the message quickly and they worry about whether they are on some customer
records."

Boy, welcome to 1984/Brave New World!! :mad:

I got some "government approved content" to show those doughnut chuffin' Federolies, allright...

Besides, if you want to play imports and backups on a PS2, you don't need really need a modchip. There's a better alternative out there. I won't get into it but Google is your friend. :D :p

[Tactics]

Funny thing is the site still works fine at my house. At work I get the gov't page. hmmm...

[vampireuk]

I love how they call it United States v. Rocci :rolleyes:

OK hands up who supports this case and as such supports good old invasion of privacy?

Perhaps Corporate America v Rocci would be more approriate

[silence]

they should just bomb those servers with warez......they are worse then Saddam, bringing US economy down.

bomb the warez......invade ISPs......:D

[t6_shadow]

Hrm civil liberties and free speech on the internet? I thought it did not exist! :rolleyes:

[vampireuk]

Get over it:p

[Kruno]

Mod chips are legal here in Australia, Sony lost the case. :D I posted this before but I like to brag. :)

[silence]

lol.....i don't know if mod chips are legal or not around here,but i haven't seen singl ps/ps2 or xbox without them

all u need is to open yellow pages and get ur chip.....they even make home deliveries

oh,i forgot......games cost like 2$ per CD (PC games included)

EDIT : smileys removed.read the rest to see why.

[Kruno]

Originally posted by silence
lol.....i don't know if mod chips are legal or not around here,but i haven't seen singl ps/ps2 or xbox without them;)

all u need is to open yellow pages and get ur chip.....they even make home deliveries:D

oh,i forgot......games cost like 2$ per CD (PC games included):D

Are you ****ing serious? Burnt games u mean?

[silence]

offcourse burnt.....but u can get them in yellow pages,some guys even make covers ;)

in all my gaming i have seen original CDs only in stores, you can get burnt CDs with latest games even in some stores, they aren't displayed, but since nobody buys originals owners decide to burn newest games and sell that way so they can make for living......

[wysiwyg]

that doesnt make sense :confused:

[silence]

Originally posted by wysiwyg
that doesnt make sense :confused:

??.....

[StealthHawk]

Originally posted by silence
in all my gaming i have seen original CDs only in stores, you can get burnt CDs with latest games even in some stores, they aren't displayed, but since nobody buys originals owners decide to burn newest games and sell that way so they can make for living......

now that is truly pathetic. sounds like China to me(piracy capital of the planet)

[silence]

i agree.....it's really pathetic to live with 250$-400$ per month.......maybe we should all die?

[DaveW]

Originally posted by silence
lol.....i don't know if mod chips are legal or not around here,but i haven't seen singl ps/ps2 or xbox without them;)

all u need is to open yellow pages and get ur chip.....they even make home deliveries:D

oh,i forgot......games cost like 2$ per CD (PC games included):D

Please don't pay for warez.

People who swap warez are usually cool guys, but people who SELL warez are total 'ssholes who make profit and take credit from other peoples work.

I used to know a guy who ran a large warez group in the UK. He was one of the most annoying people I have ever met. He would hex-edit utilities and put his group's name on them so it looked like HE had written the software, then charge 10 quid a CD for it.

[silence]

i know...i wish most ppl around here could afford legit software,but they simply can't.
with 25% unemployment rate and sh|tty salaries there is little choice.......i personally have payed for my win98 and some other software,but most of ppl simply can't afford any kind of legit software. even if some1 buys legit it's cause his comp was sold with win pre-installed.......choice is either u buy warez or u don't buy anything.and most of the guys i saw selling the stuff know s*** about cracking or anything,they just got the games or software from somewhere and sell it. if u ask them anything about it they don't know, many times u need to dl additional stuff from net just to make those copies work.

i know how this sounds, but as i said with economic situation like we have there is simply not much choice......
man.....i wish noone has to live like this.

[poursoul]

Simply Put:

If you would like the extras in life such as a house boat or a jacuzzi or even a '65 mustang, in this case games, you have to work harder. You can't just say "Hey, I'm poor so i should get things cheaper or even free." I do think that games are over-priced but developers deserve a pat on the back.