Wii Help
Do you know it is not illegal to 'mod' your wii?
At least not in the USA! I personally would not do it myself--but it is NOT illegal. The right to do so was established long ago in our court systems--when VHS recorders first hit the market and it was determined consumers have the right to record TV shows without it being regarded as a violation of copyright laws. Once you buy it, it is your personal property to do with as you wish, as long as you don't use it for illegal purposes. It is legal to "mod" your Wii--to back up and play your own titles that you legitimately own, as well as playing "homebrew" games, created by those who elect to "share" them with the general public. What is not legal is to use your "modded" Wii to copy and run games that you obtained illegally. "Bricking" the system of "modded" consoles? Maybe unintentionally, but if done deliberately? That could actually be regarded as intentional destruction of private property which could be cause for a lawuit. Lasagna and Zisw, A number of people here have claimed that modding is "illegal" and a question on it was recently deleted. I just wanted to clarify that this is simply not true. If the console manufacturers intentionally "bricked" the consoles of those who "modded" them? Well, intentional destruction of private property is illegal and could be grounds for a lawsuit against the manufacturer. Alex, Look 6 questions down and you will see that everyone does NOT know this. And it's been a reoccuring contention on this board. Rooster, Yes, you can buy "mod chips" in regular retail stores for the very reason that they ARE legal to buy and install. None of which is to say I condone, advocate, or recommend doing so. I don't. Magician, I've read the DMCA, and it explicitly excludes USERS. It pertains only to manufacturers and importers, and even then, only under specific limited circumstances. If you are not aware, the DMCA act explicitly discusses and covers VHS devices, however game consoles actually are not even mentioned. Sony lost in the landmark "Sony vs. Stevens" case in Austrailia, which ruled "mod chips" do not infringe on copyright laws. Sony did win a case against a "mod-chip" company, but that was because the defendent had willfully violated a court order to turn over proprietary information, and refused to stop even after they had signed a consent agreeing to. The court also found against an Italian company, "mod chip" company, but this was because they had not used legal means to obtain certain proprietary information used to make their "mod chips". Irregardless, none of this pertains to the end user, which the act explicitly exclludes. Hilpoof, Microsoft made similar arguments and was found guilty of violating antimonopoly laws. that "slippery slope" slants both ways. I'm opposed to piracy but value personal freedom rights far more. And I've had computers fry and a neighbor who broke an entire caseful of my CDs when he stumbled and fell on them. It was ok though--I had backups! That I can't protect my rather extensive--and expensive--gaming library the same way without the need of having to "mod" my console is very wrong. Thanks for your comments!
Public Comments
- You confused me...but I DID know that. Mods aren't illegal. They just void your warranty.
- who said it wasn't legal?
- Who said modding was illegal? YES, of course modding systems aren't illegal. You can BUY mod chips in stores, you know. A friend of mine mods PSP's for 30 bucks but you can sell them for much, much more. After it's modded, it can play Poke'mon, Super Mario, Donkey Kong, Fire Emblem, and other NINTENDO games. You can even turn on/off TV's using it's infared capabilities. It's only illegal to download ROM's and games from the Internet onto your system. Emulators are also illegal. If you were to get caught from obtaining illegal games, you would get fined heavily. However, chances are you won't. If the police actually took the time to trace every single person who has 'stolen' illegal games, gaming companies like Microsoft and Sony would lose lots of money because some people only purchase their consoles BECAUSE they can obtain free games from modding. Or so I was told. Why would it be illegal to mod a system that you purchased? You paid for it with your money so you have the right to do what you please with it. The only thing that modding does is voiding your warranty. Modding is extremely risky business and is best to let someone who knows what they're doing to do it. One mistake can mess up the entire system. If you do screwed up your console and decide to send it to the repairs, the company won't fix it because you tampered with their product.
- umm, yeah. Actually, I think everyone knows this. But toying around with your Wii will prove to be a bad decision once something goes wrong and Nintendo tells you to get lost.
- That was confusing! No i didn't now that..i have no clue what it means but ok
- There is a major difference between VHS and a video game console, though. VHS devices are made to record/copy, while video game consoles are not. Modding a video game console is illegal in the US, because modchips themselves are violations of the DMCA (since you have to violate copyright laws in obtaining the system BIOS in order to make functional modchips). I won't argue that the inability to make a playable backup copy does violate the Fair Use rules in the copyright laws. But until that gets challenged in court by someone with the bank account to do something about it, this practice will remain legal.
- No, modding isn't illegal, but it's not very smart either. Whether Nintendo intentionally releases an update to brick modded Wiis or not, it's not their fault that the mod chips aren't compatable with the updates. I'm sure they know that many people mod their consoles with the sole purpose of playing pirated games, and I don't blame them for trying to stop it. Nintendo is currently working to make "unmoddable" Wiis in Japan (I think they may have already released one batch). And if you take care of your games, there's no reason to burn backup copies. Yes, I've heard people say "I have kids!", but it's not that hard to lock your games in a cabinet when you're not playing so they don't mess with the CDs. When I was a kid, I knew better than to screw around with my parents' stuff. It's not illegal to burn music from a CD to your computer either, yet some CDs have software that erases the music from the CD if it's read by a computer, or the CD is purposely unreadable if it's placed into a computer. The whole topic is quite murky. If you want, I can try to dig out my high school term paper on music file sharing and send it to you. The gaming world is experiencing the same predicament.
- Excellent post... Glad that someone has finally cleared this up for everybody. Now they can start backing up all thier games with no worries. Here is a book that will show you how to do everything. http://tinyurl.com/24ufzo
