isonews down

http://www.isonews.com/

bam

GE

 

Damn, it looks like the government's cracking down on all these sites now. I guess I'll just have to stick to the Gameshark knife-swap trick. /versus/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

Isn't this just about the stupidest thing you've ever heard? The same government that tries to send the whole country into a panic, telling them to buy duct tape and stay home (and not go to those unpatriotic protests), now believes the greatest threat to America's security is pot smokers and videogame mod chips.

This is like something out of The Simpsons. The rest of the world must think we Americans are just suckers and chumps.

 

Who told you?

 

I hate to take a bold and unpopular stance here, but modchips pretty much exist so that you can steal The fact that you can play games from Japan that you paid for is sort of a fringe benefit.

I won't pretend like I don't benefit from the beauty of easy internet warez and mp3s etc, but I have a hard time dredging up any outrage when these places get shut down.

 

Umm, modchips started a long time ago as solely a way to play import games.

krazy got stupid and decided to start making money on something that several people had already been busted for. The enigmah chip allows the manipulation of the X-Box bios which is somehow more illegal than a basic modchip. I don't know the specifics on why chips that effect the bios are more sought after by legal means, but quite a few UK dealers, Singaporean dealers, and Lik Sang (HK) have been busted over the same thing previous to krazy.

 

I'd assumed we were talking about PS2 modchips, which I'm sure you know play CDRs. Whatever the original intention of modding, they now make it easy for you to download PS games and play them for about a nickel. The current batch of XBOX chips may be for the purpose of playing imports (and that's fine, the whole import lockout scheme is retarded). But microsoft probably figures they'd better get on top of this... maybe it's no great leap from hacked BIOS to xbox backups.

 

[ QUOTE ]
replicant said:

Umm, modchips started a long time ago as solely a way to play import games.

krazy got stupid and decided to start making money on something that several people had already been busted for. The enigmah chip allows the manipulation of the X-Box bios which is somehow more illegal than a basic modchip. I don't know the specifics on why chips that effect the bios are more sought after by legal means, but quite a few UK dealers, Singaporean dealers, and Lik Sang (HK) have been busted over the same thing previous to krazy.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not really, modchips started out as ways to play copies, plain and simple.
To claim otherwise is extremely ignorant.
Back when I did retail we had to literally beg for companies to make modchips that allowed only original imports and those ended up costing us 4 times the amount the CDr enabling ones did.

 

[ QUOTE ]
CreeD said:

I hate to take a bold and unpopular stance here, but modchips pretty much exist so that you can steal The fact that you can play games from Japan that you paid for is sort of a fringe benefit.

I won't pretend like I don't benefit from the beauty of easy internet warez and mp3s etc, but I have a hard time dredging up any outrage when these places get shut down.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, you're certainly right about the use of mod chips, and I welcome all efforts to stop piracy.

My point, simply, is this: the Justice Department isn't supposed to be looking for computer pirates and pot smokers. They're supposed to be looking for the guy responsible for killing 3,000 people! What was his name again? Hussein or something? Ah, I don't remember.

But, then again, that would require the Bush Administration to actually care about finding Bin Laden and his network, and not use 9/11 for crass political purposes (like an unnecessary war, for instance). Fat chance on that happening.

 

[ QUOTE ]
Not really, modchips started out as ways to play copies, plain and simple.
To claim otherwise is extremely ignorant.
Back when I did retail we had to literally beg for companies to make modchips that allowed only original imports and those ended up costing us 4 times the amount the CDr enabling ones did.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think you're wrong and being a bit assanine, almaci.
Ok, in the early-mid 90's I worked for various gaming stores and modchips first came to light for the SegaCD as I remember and more prominent for the Sega Saturn. Before then and a bit after all cartridge based machines were relatively easy to allow the usage of import games on. Most of them required you clip/cut/melt a tab on the cartridge or cartridge slot to allow their usage. The PSX was the first system that I ever remember modchips coming out to allow the playing of back-up games. Even the 1st Saturn chips only allowed import play by setting up a toggle switch. The SatMod (Sega Saturn Modification Board) came out to allow the usage of cd-r games on the Saturn, but that wasn't until after the PSX Stealth 1 modchips. All the chips prior were import only. Prior to the PSX we had chips for the Saturn, SegaCD, PC Engine CD, and the Neo-Geo CD systems available that didn't allow cd-r usage. The PSX was the first chip to allow cd-r usage and the others followed suit by creative pirates. All modchips I would say now are manufactured with the main goal of allowing the usage of pirated materials or otherwise illegal materials. Just my 2 cents.

 

As they have been since the advent of writing hardware.
Before that it just wasnt economicaly feasable, modding became huge with the PS1 becouse of piracy, before that it was just a means of playing imports and ussualy it didnt involve chips or annything, we are talking about modchips here right, well those came in one flavour early on and that was piracy enabling.

 

I agree that modchips became popular during the early PSX adoption, the lower prices of CD-RW's, and the ability to circumvent protection with ease. I was just stating that systems prior to that either had a modchip to enable import play or required a simple modification to it's physical design to allow the playing of import materials. It started out as a geek think to play imports and evolved into a parasite thing to steal software.

 

Maaan everyone should just follow in Nintendo's footsteps and use a form of media that makes it hard for people to bootleg. They have the lowest piracy rate.

 

People keep trying, but it's hard to do nowadays. Even Nintendo has problems since there are machines out that can duplicate rom's onto blank cartidges for NES, SNES, GB, and N64 for under $100. Even the Gamecube now has a modchip that will allow the playing of cd-r's, but it only works on the Panasonic Q version of the Gamecube. Dreamcast thought they had created something new with the GD-Roms (1 Gigabyte CD), but thanks to a backdorr in windows CE, Dreamcast Telnet capabilities, and most companies creating dummy files to fill up the disc's instead of content this was easily bypassed. As smart as people are becoming now it is hard to keep a step ahead of them for long.

There is a new way of creating machined grooves in the bottom of a disc that makes them where they cannot be copied by current cd-rw's, but it seems it costs a bit more than companies want to invest in disc creation. This method was created by a Hong Kong piracy company to keep people from burning copies of their boot discs for PSX, PS2, and Dreamcast. Thats just kinda funny. I think the machine it takes to replicate the grooves cost about $15k+, so it's not easily gotten for mass market.

 

>> the Justice Department isn't supposed to be looking for computer pirates and pot smokers.

well, actually, they are, because it's illegal...

not that i disagree with you, in fact i wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments, but as long as it's law, that's their job - asshole pig drones that they may be. and not every agent can be harrassing and profiling those dirty filthy heathen raghe--err, waging the war against terror (or "TWAT" as i like to call it).

it's up to the people and the lawmakers to change the laws - although in these times it seems that that concept really couldn't be farther away from from the truth.