Conviction handed down for Xbox chipping

The first ever conviction for modifying a games console has been secured in the UK, with a 22 year-old Cambridge graduate receiving 140 hours of community service and a bill for UKP 750 costs from a court in Wales.

The man, who is yet to be named, was found guilty under the EU Copyright Directive which was taken up by the UK in October 2003, which makes it illegal to circumvent copy protection systems on hardware such as games consoles.

The crime in question was selling modded Xboxes fitted with larger hard drives and pre-installed games. To be precise, 80 pre-installed games on a chipped Xbox with a 200Gb hard drive for UKP 380, for sale via his own website.



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